


Too Little Colours (To Describe The World)

by Bluestpaw



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Awkwardness, Bianca is amazing, Eventual Romance, F/M, Ferris Wheel Shipping, Friend to enemies, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I don't know what I'm doing, I swear there's romance, Lots and lots of Awkwardness, Pokemon Journey, Romance, Slow Romance, So is Ollie, did I say this is slow?, friendship fluff, half of these taggs are made up, it's really slow, please bear with me, probably too much friendship fluff, slowburn, there's lots and lots of friendship fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 116,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23696167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluestpaw/pseuds/Bluestpaw
Summary: "So, turns out the world was more greyish than anything else from the start anyway..." "Greyish? Have you looked outside once in your life? How is that anything but colorful?"Starting out on her journey, Touko can't wait to become a trainer - except that it isn't as easy as it looks.Ferriswheelshipping, following Touko's journey and the aftermath of the final battle. Inspired by "The Truth will prevail" (by maydei).
Relationships: Bel | Bianca & Cheren & Touko | Hilda, N | Natural Harmonia Gropius & Touko | Hilda, N | Natural Harmonia Gropius/Touko | Hilda
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	1. Red, Blue, Green and Golden

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Truth Will Prevail](https://archiveofourown.org/works/621712) by [maydei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maydei/pseuds/maydei). 



> A.N: Thank you for checking out my Fanfiction ^^ From the get-go: This Fanfiction was heavily inspired by "The truth will prevail" by Maydei and therefore, there will be inevitable similarities. I asked for permission whether I'm allowed to post this nonetheless (I asked their account on ff.net, shame-archive-2k17, my username there is the same) and therefore this is "authorized" (check out "The truth will prevail" though, it's genius).
> 
> In addition to this, this is cross posted on ff.net where currently the first ten chapters are up. I will post the remaining nine here once I’m done editing them (they will be edited over there too), though if you want to know what happens next, you can always read them there.
> 
> For more information, please read the Author's note at the end ^^

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boy's gaze flickered to Concordia, an unvoiced question hidden beneath grey eyes, however, he did not dare to look away from his father for long. Instead, he straightened his back and met the sage's gaze, a smile taking over his expression. The Zorua that had taken his seat next to him growled.
> 
> Maybe it was complaining about having been awaken so rudely.
> 
> "Father! Why...May I ask why you are paying us a visit? Is it to teach me something of the world outside?"
> 
> -
> 
> Touko, kept he mouth shut as her friends squabbled, still rubbing her elbows though. Her gaze was fixated on the PokéBalls before them and for some reason, her gaze seemed to get attracted by the PokéBall sitting in the middle of all of it. So instead of waiting for her friends to settle down (and really, she couldn't wait any longer) she snatched the ball (did it really feel slippery, or was that just her imagination?) and let out the Pokémon inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discalimer: I do not own Pokémon adn this fafiction has been greatly inspired by "The Truth will prevail" by maydei (https://archiveofourown.org/works/621712) so you should check it out!

* * *

_There once was a man who took a sword and split himself in two. And from his blood bloomed war and from his cries bloomed hatred and when the sun set and he was patched back together, nothing had changed and yet everything had._

* * *

Too little colours to describe the world  
Chapter 1  
Red, Blue, Green and Golden.

* * *

It was the 24th of August when Touko sat in her room, biting her lip while trying not too stare at the small package sitting on her desk. Outside, the weather was trying to rip the small community of Nuvema Town apart with raindrops, the size of golf balls. Inside, Touko was fuming with excitement. And, well, she was also low-key pissed.

It rained. _Of course_ it rained. In fact, it rained hard enough for the narrow streets of Nuvema Town to have turned into torrential rivers. The sun had shone yesterday, it had shone the day before that _and_ it had shone the day before _that_ day. According to the weather forecast there wouldn't be a cloud in sight tomorrow. Nor would there be one the day after that. Or the day after that.

But today! Today it rained. _Of course_. It wasn't even supposed to rain today! But it did and instead of binge-watching a show in her bed, wrapped in an approximately one thousand blankets she was sitting her, nervously biting her lip, avoiding to look at the package on top of her desk.

Life sucked. But, honestly, after spending 16 years at a place like this, Touko already knew that. And she knew sulking wouldn't help. She'd simply have to wait another day, regardless of how much of a pain _waiting_ was (especially if you've already done that all summer long). Touko wished she could have done something, but suspension and excitement paralysed her will to do something as she impatiently waited for her friends to _finally_ show up.

For a moment a bright smile lit up her face as she realized, _she was going to be a trainer_! For a second she wiggled around, as a way of dancing, before she tried to calm herself again.

She was going to be a trainer! A trainer! She could dance and sing and...

No. No, Touko. No. She had to be mature. _Mature_.

Touko tried to calm herself (she failed), before determinedly stalking toward it and putting a pen away, before going back to sitting on her bed, biting her lips and waiting.

A minute later and she got up again and put something else away. Time was getting to her and slowly wearing her down. Plus, she had run out of things to do. There were no chores left to do and heck, she had even cleaned her room!

Again, Touko glanced at the package. This time she couldn't help but smile and then she jumped in a circle, a silent squeal escaping her lips, when, once again, reality set in.

SHE WAS GETTING A POKÈMON!

Arceus, she was so excited! It was...all she had ever dreamed about! If there had been anything she had been good at, then it was learning stuff about Pokémon and memorizing all the different routes there were to travel, and places that were to visit and gyms that had to been beaten. And all of it had been done with her big goal in mind: to become a successful Pokémon-Trainer. Not necessarily a champion, just a successful trainer. Her mum always mused she was just like her dad, and maybe, _maybe_ , her mum was right. But then again, did it matter? No, no it didn't.

So, instead of worrying about becoming just like her father (he showed up sometimes, but he usually traveled the world, in search of _something_ apparently) Touko got up and put something away, yet again. She kept glancing at her desk and at some point she even went over, looking at the package, inspecting it for whatever reason. Then she sat back down, short nails clicking on the book laying next to her.

She got up again. This time she got herself a glass of water.

It was the fifth one so far.

Shouldn't her friends be here already anyway? No, there were still five minutes to go.

Arceus, couldn't they just have shown up earlier?!

After another hour (ok, just seconds, but really, that didn't matter), she put away the book too. Then she inspected her wardrobe and decided to shove her pink pajamas deeper into the depths of the drawer. If Bianca _ever_ found these, she'd never let it go. _Never_. There was a reason why she hadn't packed them for her journey...her journey!

SHE WAS GOING TO START HER JOURNEY!

Touko started squealing and danced around the room once more, convinced she might just explode any time soon. Arceus, she couldn't…she couldn't believe it! And...And! Quickly, she sat down on her bed again, folding her hands in her lap.

Arceus, she had to calm down. She had to calm down. She had to. She couldn't…She was going to be a trainer! She had to become serious! And...and...mature! A successful trainer didn't dance around their room uncontrollably.

But then again, she didn't have her Pokémon just yet, so technically speaking she wasn't a trainer and the day (despite the rain – there weren't enough words to describe how much Touko despised rain) was just too great as to not dance around her room, thus, she continued, it wasn't like her friends didn't know what she was doing right now, so she kept dancing around her room, occasionally…

Then, finally. The doorbell rang. Touko froze.

She heard the door being opened, she heard two familiar voices, she heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, making their way into her room she saw her friend's face, she..

She got tackled. She got tackled, her fists still up in the air and the tune caught on her lips. The moment Bianca collided with the brunette all air was knocked out of said girl's lungs and she was thrown onto the bed, as the blonde threw her arms around her and let out a high-pitched "TOOOOUKOOOOO" right into her best friend's ear.

Touko, by now used to this kind of treatment, couldn't help but grin widely as she hugged Bianca back and waved at Cheren, who silently stood in the doorway She didn't even notice the cold, wet water dripping from her hair to her shoulders and onto her white t-shirt, that evidently came from Bianca's over sized hat. "Hey guys...", she managed to say, before her air supply ran out. She had to wrestle her way out of Bianca's arms.

Cheren was the exact opposite of Bianca, his cool demeanor slowing him down. A somewhat judging expression clouded his eyes, while he absentmindedly dried his glasses, before putting them back on, in an equally absentminded way. He was leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed and lips pressed together, watching Bianca drenching Touko's room. "You should have taken off that hat of yours, before entering. Just look at the floor!", he sighed, shaking his head, before stepping into the room, knowing full well how useless his remark would be. The blonde girl wasn't known to worry about much. And she could be rather oblivious.

"Hey, Touko. Sorry for all of that..." Cheren didn't finish his sentence, instead option to simply point at Bianca and a half-smile crept its way onto his face.

"He-ey!" Bianca let go of Touko, a blush forming on her face and she shortly glanced at her drenched hat. Her cheeks started heating up. "It's not like it matters...", she said, before exclaiming:"Hey!"

Confused, the blonde girl turned around several times, taking in the sight in front of her.

"What happened to Touko's room?", she inquired, still inspecting her best friends room, an inquisitive expression (so very untypical for the rather clumsy blonde) adorning her face. The girl frowned, turning back and facing her friend once more. Cheren made his way to stand next to her and both looked at Touko expectantly, a gesture which made Touko blush and bury her face beneath her pillow.

Why hadn't she known tidying her room would be a bad idea?!

When she peeked out of from her pillow, she saw he friends, still looking at her. Bianca gave the brunette a warm smile, while Cheren's expression was guarded just the way it always was (and always had been).

Touko couldn't help but blush even harder. She got up though, seemingly only to nervously scratch her neck, her gaze avoiding that of her friends. "So...Uh...I decided to tidy up. Because...of reasons..." Touko greatly disliked being the center of attention (although she usually didn't mind that at all). Her gaze drifted to the package standing on her desk, a package she had gone to all lengths to forget about, just so she didn't die of curiosity.

How she wished her friends would inspect the package instead of her right now.

"Yeah, we can see that...", Cheren said,"But you _never_ tidy up. And if you do, you know...you don't really do it."

"Yeah!", Bianca chimed in,"you usually just throw everything into your cabinets and wardrobes so you can vacuum the floor!"

"Uh...", Touko responded, unsure what to say. Why was she so nervous? There was no reason to be nervous! Those were her friends! And she was _allowed_ to tidy up her room!

"Well, you know, new life, new me?", she murmured eventually. She even managed to smile at her friends halfheartedly. But before Cheren could comment anything (or Touko herself for that matter), Bianca had already tackled her again, flinging her arms around the smaller girl. They both fell onto Touko's bed in the process, an action that was accompanied by a shared "EEK".

"Ah, BIANCA! Get OFF of me!" But the blonde was already happily ignoring her demands as she hugged her best friend. This was great! It was awesome! They had _dreamed_ of this!

"I can't believe it! Touko is _finally_ growing up!"

"It's not _that_ bad!"

This scene was oddly familiar to her mother's reaction when she had first set foot into Touko's new, and improved, room and it irritated the brunette greatly.

"Yes. Yes it is", Cheren deadpanned. Again, he sighed while watching his friends wrestle. However, he couldn't help but smile at the scene.

He didn't watch them for long though. Instead he turned to face the window, starring at the constant rain and the occasional thunder. He sighed again. Touko, who had finally managed to wrestle herself free once more, followed his gaze and her smile disappeared.

"We really got unlucky, didn't we? There's no way we can start our journey during weather like this…"

The brunette sat up again, a smug smile making its way to her lips.

"But hey, at least I don't have to leave my room today...", she added, blue eyes starring at Cheren's wet hair before moving to Bianca's hat.

Bianca gave her a jealous stare, while Cheren simply shook his head, responding that they did have to visit Professor Juniper today and there was no way they could postpone that until the sun grazed Nuvema Town with its presence once more. At once, Touko's smug smile disappeared and she sighed, glancing outside where the storm was still raging on. Oh well. Today was too exciting as to get upset over some stupid rain drops. And thus, Touko got, or rather sprang, up, clapping her hands and disclaiming:"Now, who wants to check out the Pokémon?"

Of course, all of them already knew which Pokémon they were going to receive. They had even gone as far as deciding who was going to get which one. They didn't have to argue about it – Touko had claimed Oshawott right from the start and none of her friends had dared to object. Cheren had chosen Snivy (Touko suspected it was to get a type advantage over her, but she didn't really mind) and Bianca had been happy with whatever Pokémon she got. As long as it was cute. Which wasn't a requirement because Bianca would call a Trubbish cute (just look at its big and innocent eyes!).

But still. Hearing, reading and learning about them was something entirely different to finally see them and Touko couldn't calm down her accelerating heart rate anymore.

The moment Touko's words had left her mouth, Bianca sprang up too (Touko almost expected to get tackled again, but thank Arceus, that didn't happen).

"I almost forgot!", the blonde said. She started frantically searching the room for the three Pokéballs.

"Of course you almost forgot...", Cheren retorted, making his way to Touko's desk. Bianca had never been the most focused of them, especially when excited, but even that didn't explain her fleeting mind. She had _chewed his ear of_ talking about how thrilled she was to finally meet her lifelong partner and bla, bla, bla.

There really was no helping it

But now, the mysterious box on Touko's desk had caught everyone's attention and finally, they surrounded it, nervous eyes twitching and sweaty hands grasping at fabric.  
Even Cheren finally showed a sign of excitement when he cleaned his glasses another time.

"Uh, uh, someone needs to open it!", Bianca exclaimed, though she was whispering. Her excitement was evident nonetheless.

"Should we...", Cheren said. It wasn't like him to be nervous, but he didn't want to be the one to just barge in and do it either.

However, Touko didn't mind doing exactly that. In fact, she didn't think twice and when her friends didn't immediately snatch the package, she couldn't help but rip the paper apart in a swift, familiar motion. Bianca gave of a shrill "EEK!" and Cheren sucked in air as the paper made its way to the ground, revealing a box and then, finally, three Pokéballs.

Three Pokéballs. Three friends.

One red, one green, one blue.

.

.o.O.o.

.

"Sire!". A firm voice echoed through the empty hallways, slowly losing its force as it passed a thousand miles of loneliness. Eerie lights dimly lit the corridors of the opulent castle, it's beauty still hidden from the world it soon would govern.

"Sire", called the voice out, a second time, although this time it was closer and the ageing man could make out hasty steps on the stone floor.

Ghetsis grunted, but came to a halt. His robes shifted as he turned back, a cold gaze falling onto the grunt that had appeared before him and was now kneeling on the cold, marble floor. "Sire. Your presence is requested!" The grunt held up a scroll above his head, eyes glued to the floor, not daring to meet the sage's gaze. For a few seconds Ghetsis inspected the yellowish scroll, before long finger grasped it, his movement neither too lingering nor to fast. Although this action may have been insignificant, he carried it out with such grace and poise, the grunt couldn't help but hold his breath in awe.

Carefully, Ghetsis read through it, red eyes fixed on the letters, neatly written with ink. There were easier ways to transport messages. There were faster ways. But they were not _his_ way. And they simply didn't carry enough weight. Accepting a scroll was much more befitting of his role and the role he'd soon be playing.

Once Ghetsis was done reading the message, he silently put the parchment back into the waiting hands of the still kneeling grunt, before turning once more. "Very well", he said, his voice as sweeter than honey, but harsh and strict at the same time.

"I will be there, good servant, tell them that."

And with the wave of a hand, he added:"You are dismissed."

Ghetsis didn't look back as he continued his way through the castle, therefore missing the puzzled expression of the grunt, wondering just where the sage was headed. He had been summoned by the other six sages and their chambers lay at the other end of the castle. But it wasn't his place to question his lord's motives, so instead of paying the gesture much attention he, too, turned and left, to deliver the message Ghetsis had given him.

The sage himself gracefully strolled through the long hallways, his robes perfectly matching the castle's interior, knowing that he was headed in the opposite direction. But he didn't need to speak to the other sages to know what they had to tell him.

He had read the news. He knew of the weather.

For a split of a second Ghetsis' gaze flickered, a somewhat triumphant expression distorting his usual guarded face, before it fell back into line again. Soon. Very soon.

But not yet.

His robes barely moved as he made his way to the fourth floor. He halted in front of a door, looking just like every other of the castle's door. Most of them led to the grunt's chambers or they concealed other pawns. This one, however, had just a bit more meaning, although not much. The faint laughter coming from the other side gave it away.

It didn't matter though. There was not much of a difference.

Ghetsis straightened his robe (there really was no reason too, but he had gotten accustomed to doing this), while he fixed his face. His cold gaze shifted to a warmer, yet strict, expression and although it was no smile by any means, it was the closest to one that Ghetsis could muster.

Then he knocked.

He knocked exactly three times, before his hand disappeared beneath fabrics once more and waited, as the laughter died away at once. He didn't have to wait for long though. Hurried footsteps soon made their way to the entrance and the door was opened, revealing the smiling face of a young woman. "Ghetsis! What surprise to find you here at such a time! Do you want to join our class today?" The goddess of peace, Concordia, couldn't hide the hopeful glimmer in her eyes. Ever since they had started this particular class they had hoped for Ghetsis to join them, to teach N some more about life outside the castle, but the sage had refused to do so.

He hadn't given an explanation other than that he thought those lessons to be useless. Natural didn't need to interact with other people. He was _better_ than that.

"I have come to deliver a message", the sage simply stated, ignoring the goddesses glimmer of hope. Then he added, not even trying to hide his distaste:"May I interrupt your... _lesson_?"

Concordia, her smiling faltering just a little bit, simply nodded, letting the tall man stride into the room and silently closed the door behind him. Plenty of times Ghetsis had demanded, rather vehemently at that, for guards to be placed in the prince's room, but the goddesses had refused every single time.

The boy, whatever role his destiny would thrust upon him, needed some privacy. If he was to be surrounded by servants, at the very last he should be given his freedom within his own room. So, Ghetsis had compiled. If the goddesses were so keen on opening doors, so be it.

The second Ghetsis strode into the room, filled with colourful toys that seemed to be so out of place in a castle like this, he caught the attention of another woman, Anthea, and the boy they were currently teaching, a Zorua sleeping on his lap. Both rose at the sight of the sage (although N took his time to carefully place the Pokémon next to him on the skateboard ramp) and Anthea made a curtsey.

Ghetsis didn't know whether it was meant ironically or not. Anthea's actions were a mystery, even to a man like Ghetsis.

The boy's gaze flickered to Concordia, an unvoiced question hidden beneath grey eyes, however, he did not dare to look away from his father for long. Instead, he straightened his back and met the sage's gaze, a smile taking over his expression. The Zorua that had taken his seat next to him growled. Maybe it was complaining about having been awaken so rudely.

"Father! Why...May I ask why you are paying us a visit? Is it to teach me something of the world outside? I'd love to learn more abou…"

"You speak too fast, my lord", Ghetsis replied, interrupting his adopted son's train of thought, before it could get out of hand.

N bit his lip (and then quickly stopped), and lowered his gaze, knowing of this...quirk of his. The Zorua's ears perked up, feeling his friend's distress and shuffled closer to him. This little gesture elicited a smile from N, be it for a few moments before it was masked by a stern expression once more.

"Yes, father", he murmured, before shifting and looking at the older men.

Gehtsis, however, didn't look at his son anymore. Instead his gaze drifted through the room, displaying a clear distaste at the many toys scattered around. Stuffed animals, basketballs, skateboards and even a model railway were spread around the room, their colourful design clashing with the style of the castle's interior. Ghetsis had tried to throw them out, or, at least, to replace them with something else, but Natural had protested. Through his sisters, that was.

The boy had been raised well enough as to not speak up against his father.

Once the sage's gaze was fixed on the prince again, he finally spoke:"I've come to relay an important message, my lord. A thunderstorm is shaking the south-eastern part of Unova."

N shifted uncomfortably. A thunderstorm? What… "As trivial as it may sound, this thunderstorm seems to have no explanation and we must assume it isn't caused by any natural phenomena." A sigh escaped N's lips. Was he supposed to learn more about meteorology? He didn't mind science, but this specific topic had never managed to fully consume N's attention.. Luckily, Ghetsis had deemed it as irrelevant to a king's tasks, and therefore, he didn't have to learn all that much about it.

"If it is about a lesson, father, I'm sure it can…"

"The coronation can no longer wait." Ghetsis had no interest in prolonging this conversation. Instead he cut straight to the point. A thunderstorm could mean anything, but on the slight chance another hero had just been born, or worse, had taken on their mantle of becoming a hero, they had to act _now_. No more waiting. It may be a bit early, or at least earlier than planned, but it was time.

Natural seemed to be of a different opinion though. The boy needed a few seconds before the realization set in and his eyes widened in shock.

"Father, I don't..." Coronation? He wasn't ready just yet, he didn't have...But once again, his side was cut short.

"The coronation can no longer wait", Ghetsis repeated, his voice taking on a sharp edge:"You will be crowned king of Team Plasma this very evening."

And, without a goodbye, or any other word for that matter, the sage turned, his robes shuffling, and he left the room.

.

.o.O.o.

.

It was still raining in Nuvema Town as the three teenagers stood in front of Touko's room, starring at the Pokéballs laying on the desk.

Bianca swallowed. Cheren polished his glasses. Touko bit her lip. If she had worn her cap, she would have shoved it into her face now, trying to hide her expression, but she wasn't wearing a cap, something she was painfully aware of.

God, she should have put on her cap. A cap would have been helpful. Very helpful indeed. But wouldn't that have been weird? Wearing a cap inside? Then again...No. She couldn't go down that rabbit hole again. So instead, she straightened her back and looked at her friends, a cheerful smile on her lips.

"Guys", she said, her voice just a little bit more high-pitched than usual:"This is it. This is it!"

Ok, now her voice was definitely more high-pitched than usual. But it didn't matter. What mattered was finally getting their hands on their starters.

In an attempt to rip through the somewhat fearful atmosphere, she wrapped an arm around both Bianca and Cheren and then squeezed the three of the together with an added "EEEEEE!" and, although she felt somewhat weird doing it (really, only Bianca would really be able to pull off something like this), it did the trick. Bianca's expression lit up and she jumped at Touko once more, hugging her another time, which made Touko lose balance. She then proceeded to stumble into Cheren, who then lost his glasses he was currently cleaning and it all ended with the three of them falling onto the floor, accompanied by a loud "AAAAAAAH".

It took them some time to realize what just had happened.

"Bianca!", Cheren hissed, frantically searching for his glasses before getting up again. Touko rubbed her arms and got up too, while absentmindedly giving Bianca a hand and pulling her up in the process.

"Sooorry!", the girl chimed, still giggling though.

"You need to be more careful! You could have gotten one of us hurt! Or worse…"

"Expelled?", Bianca interrupted, which only earned herself more deadly lasers (and a chuckle from Touko).

"This is not a joke..!"

"Cheer up, Cheren! Your name even begins with..."

Touko, kept he mouth shut as her friends squabbled, still rubbing her elbows though. Her gaze was fixated on the PokéBalls before them and for some reason, her gaze seemed to get attracted by the PokéBall sitting in the middle of all of it. So instead of waiting for her friends to settle down (and really, she couldn't wait any longer) she snatched the ball (did it really feel slippery, or was that just her imagination?) and let out the Pokémon inside.

White light filled the room, catching both her friend's attention, as the small Pokémon that had currently been held by the Pokéball materialized in front of them.

Touko felt her breath. It had to be an Oshawott, after all holding the ball had felt so _right_ and...

It was a Snivy.

So much for feeling a connection with her starter even before seeing it. A disappointed expression took over Touko's face.

"Well then...", Cheren, said, snatching the Pokéball out of Touko's hands:"Should we free the other two?"

Bianca started squealing.

.o.O.o.

"King?", N asked, his voice a mixture of surprise and fear. He looked at Anthea, then at Concordia and then at Anthea again.

What...why? It felt so rushed...Of course, maybe the thunderstorm was an indication for his counterpart to have been chosen, but that didn't matter, right?  
Even if the other hero appeared, he'd win. He was right in what he was going to do. Liberate his friends. Save both, humanity and Pokémon from humanity's ugly nature.

This didn't make sense. He grasped at the golden token he always took with him, his breath accelerating and his thoughts looking for anything to make sense out of this decision.

"I don't...", he murmured, glancing at the black Pokémon at his feet that had jumped up as soon as he had noticed the tension rising.

"Hush, hush...", Concordia responded, pushing N back down into the pillows that had been scattered on the ramp.

"You will be crowned king today. We must prepare."

Anthea got up, joining her sister, making a courtesy at the boy they had once seen as their son.

No longer. He was to be king. He was to fulfil what had been promised.

"We must, leave, my lord", she said, leaving N puzzled. My Lord? When had they started calling him "My Lord"?

"We must prepare. I ask you, stay here until all is done. We will come and get you for the ceremony." Both made a courtesy (N frowned at this odd behaviour) before making their way out of the room. N didn't dare to call them back, too shocked was he by his father's revelation. His breath was still accelerating and his mind was seemingly frozen. What...Why...How...

King. He was to be crowned King.

Of course, he had always known of this, but...it wasn't supposed to happen until later it…

He was to be King.

Once the realization had set in, a wide grin spread over N's face like a wildfire.

King.

"Soon", he said, turning to Zorua and gently petting his head. "Soon all will be free."

.

.o.O.o.

.

Touko couldn't help but stare at the Pokémon in front of her. Blue eyes locked with black ones and Touko could imagine this to be the start of a wonderful bond...Until the Oshawott started backing away, clearly terrified by all that was going on around them.

There was this one loud and obnoxious blonde girl that didn't stop sounding like a hurt Tepig, there was this other, black-haired boy that started talking to his friend Snivy very fast and seemed so...so _serious_ and then there was this weird girl starring at her, after she had let out a deafening scream and then there were those lights and the rain and...and… To say Oshawott was terrified was an understatement.

She decided to walk backwards, which led to visible confusion on that brown-haired girl's side. She tried to grab the Oshawott, which started to squeal and jumped away, _accidentally_ knocking over an equally terrified Tepig that was currently the blonde girl's centre of attention while Snivy was too shocked to interrupt his, apparently, new trainer.

Tepig didn't take getting kicked into the back all too lightly.

And thus, mayhem ensued.

It ended in the room getting trashed and three young Pokémon fleeing into their new trainer's arms, suddenly welcome for the attention they had received just earlier. The fight had mainly taken place between Bianca's Tepig and Touko's Oshawott, although Snivy had occasionally tried to pacify them by knocking both out. It hadn't worked at all, but hey, at least he had _tried_.

At the end, both Pokémon only stopped once Bianca and Touko had gotten a hold of them, while Cheren stood watching, shaking his head as Touko's room got trashed. Their Pokémon, their problem. After all, all three of them had to learn how to control their Pokémon to become successful trainers. He couldn't help but smile proudly at his Snivy, that hadn't done anything too reckless. It seemed as if he had made the right choice.

A shaking Oshawott in her arm's, Touko looked around the room and a sigh escaped her lips as she saw the emptied cupboards and the dirty flooring.

At least she had managed to find 50 Poké Dollar when tidying it up. It hadn't totally been in vain.

When Touko felt the small Pokémon in her arms starting to struggle, she zoned back into reality and carefully put it on the floor. She hesitated just for a second before taking a seat next to it, having learned from her first meeting. Maybe, just maybe, the situation had been a bit confusing for the three Pokémon. And although she wanted to get angry, she couldn't bring herself to reprimand the small Pokémon, its black eyes looking at her, as terrified as ever.

Maybe they weren't used to humans. Or maybe they just weren't used to screaming teenager girls. Touko couldn't help but smile (after all, she wasn't used to herself either) before, tentatively petting the Oshawott's head and looking at it with big eyes widened by curious wonder. Touko's excitement had finally cooled down and her thoughts weren't as cloudy anymore (she still wanted to scream out loud from happiness, but by now she could control that urge) and now she took her time to properly observe her first Pokémon, while Cheren sat next to Bianca, healing her Tepig.

The Oshawott seemed to be just a tad smaller than the average, though her ears were rather big. Her eye were pitch black, a typical coloring for the species, although, sometimes an Oshawott's eye color took on a more grayish shade. This one's left eye was a tad bigger than its right eye and her whiskers seemed a bit shorter than the average whisker size Touko had heard about.

All in all, her starter was just a normal Oshawott though. Nothing out of the ordinary. But this was _her_ Oshawott, _her_ Pokémon, _her_ partner. And looking into those widened, still terrified, eyes, Touko knew she didn't want it any other way.

A smile spread on Touko's face as this thought made its way to her consciousness and she ended up extending a fist, her eyes curiously awaiting her new partner's reaction, before whispering:"Hey, buddy. I'm Touko. And we're going to be the goddamn greatest team there is!"

As soon as those words had left her lips, the Oshawott seemed to be just a bit less terrified and, after a second of hesitation, fist bumped her.

Touko couldn't help but squeal.

And the terror was back.

.

.o.O.o.

.

Hurried steps announced the arrival of some grunts to N, as he had taken his seat at his desk, starring down at some equations he had scribbled down. They helped him relax. They were logical and made sense and were predictable, unlike his father's most recent action. He had thought of solving another Rubik's Cube, but he didn't want to change any of the intricate patterns. N was still taken aback by the sudden change of plans, although he shouldn't mind. The less prepared the ceremony, the less grand. And if this sudden development meant the ceremony would be bearable it was worth all the wonder and confusion that had spread through the castle like a wildfire.

N was about to be proven wrong though, when several Team Plama grunts marched into his room, disrupting the peaceful silence, and fell to their knees. He knew one of them, standing, no, kneeling in the front row. They had stroke up some interesting conversations. Although, really, it was just N talking undisturbed with an occasional nod from the grunts side.

N didn't even know his name.

Reluctantly the green-haired boy left his desk behind, approaching the kneeling mass of grunts. He wasn't sure how to treat them, they way they knelt there, the way all of them just looked the exact same way...It made him reluctant to come close. But when he did...

Not a single head was raised.

For a second N glanced at the grunt he knew better than all the others. Now was not the time to strike up a conversation. Not with the event at hand. Not with his father watching, standing at the door.

"It is time."

N gulped.

.

.o.O.o.

.

Touko was shivering, despite wearing a coat. Her mother had convinced her to put on a jacket instead of just snatching an umbrella when making her way to Professor Juniper's lab and though Touko wouldn't admit it out loud, she was thankful for it. She still got soaked though. And while her starter may gleefully play in the rain, she shared the Tepig's, recently named Oinky, sentiment.

Boy, did she hate rain.

Right now, her friends and the brunette were standing in the laboratory, which was just as cold as it was outside and Touko couldn't help but shiver, much to Bianca's chagrin.

"I _told_ you to put on some warmer clothes!", she exclaimed, shaking her head at her friend's weird antics.  
This action resulted in a bunch of water drops to land on Oinky, which in return, proceeded to jump out of Bianca's arms. Bianca was on her knees in a second's notice, begging the small Pokémon for its forgiveness, confusing the young Fire-starter even more.

Humans were weird. Especially this one.

Meanwhile, Cheren merely shook his head, glancing at his Snivy. Indeed, he was immensely proud of his well-behaved starter. He still had to think of a name, something he hadn't want to think about in the first place. He didn't want to name his Pokémon, but the two girl's had nagged him all the way to the lab until he had conceded. Now he had to come up with something clever, or at least something than "Oinky". Or "Planty" for that matter.

Touko hadn't needed to think about a name at all. She had already chosen one for her Oshawott before even receiving an Oshawott, just like for every single one of her other Pokémon that she was going to catch throughout her journey. She wasn't _usually_ the type to plan things ahead - really, usually she just _did_ things and thought about it later - but this journey had been different. This journey was important. Touko couldn't afford to just trust her intuition on this one. Heck, she wanted to be a trainer! She wanted to be a trainer for longer than just that one year it took teenagers her age to complete the gym circle before going back to complete their schooling. She wanted to be a trainer for life. She wanted to spend every waking second with her team and accomplish great things. Maybe she'd even try to win against the Elite Four at some point! Preparing for that journey took way longer than just a year and barely anyone ever made it to Alder, let alone beat the aging champion. But maybe, after a few years, maybe she'd try.

If her team wanted to, that was.

And her mother had been pretty clear about her wish for Touko to take this serious. She had demanded to see an elaborate plan before signing the paper that granted Touko a year reprieve from school and Touko was not about to challenger her mother.

Thus, an elaborate plan was made. And an elaborate plan included nicknames.

Her starter was to be called "Ollie".

It was a simple name. It was simple, but it could be used for both, a male and a female starter and in addition "Oshawott" and "Ollie" both started with an "O".  
Really, it was a perfect name. And the Water-Pokémon didn't seem to mind either.

Hurried footsteps coming from the other side of the laboratory caught Touko's attention and she turned away from her starter, that had almost started another, though less serious, fight with his friend, now dubbed Oinky. For a split second Touko wondered whether they had their own names, in whatever language they were talking (if they were talking at all), but she didn't cling to it. The implication would have been a bit too...dangerous? There had been news of that one environmentalist group and Touko had no intention of going down that path.

Touko shook her head before focusing on the middle-aged woman that had appeared in the hallway leading to the Professor's apartment.

Her white lab coat flattered dramatically as Professor Juniper swiftly made her way to stand in front of the three teenagers, her hair fixed in a messy bun. Professor Juniper's father walked in behind her, an amused smile on his face. He halted in the doorway, his arms crossed and wise eyes overlooking the three new trainers. Once Professor Juniper had taken her place before Cheren, Bianca and Touko, she couldn't help but start talking way too quickly again, murmuring a thousand apologies.

Touko smiled. That's Professor Juniper for you.

At least her sudden appearance had broken up Oinky's and Ollies' fight.

"I'm so, so sorry, I just didn't expect you to come over today, seeing the rain and all...I thought you were going to postpone your journey's start!", she exclaimed, a bright smile featured on her delicate facial features. But also a question. For a moment, the three teenagers glanced at each other, silently discussing who was going to say what.

Eventually, Cheren stepped forward, clearing his throat, and responded:"We're going to postpone it. We just didn't want you to wait for us, so we decided to come over anyway." He stepped back.

Professor Juniper obviously already knew they wouldn't leave today. None of the three were that crazy. But, well, Professor Juniper wasn't the only one that was to be concerned with this decision. And thus, once Cheren had answered the professor's question, three heads turned and three pairs of curious Pokémon-eyes starred at their new trainers. Postpone? They weren't going to leave now?

Tepig's eyes burnt with anger as he heard this news (he had been so excited, although he hadn't imagined his new trainer to be quite like...this!), while the Snivy simply shrugged his shoulder and turned back to face Professor Juniper (it didn't mind waiting – in fact, that was probably the most clever thing to do) and Ollie...Ollie's eyes lit up in excitement.

They were going to wait. They were going to wait! She had been so terrified by the prospect of leaving town (with such a weird trainer at that), so postponing the trip sat rather well with her.

Judging from her trainer's expression, it apparently didn't sit too well with her though.

Well, she'd have to wait anyway.

The fact she'd have to wait for another night indeed didn't sit too well with Touko, and a grumpy expression took over he face. Today was, truly, an up and down for her emotions. At first it had been a great day, she had gotten her starter and all, but...she wanted to go, she wanted to finally explore the world and she wanted to see _everything_. And now she had to wait. A sigh escaped her lips. Professor Juniper didn't seem to notice. Instead, she clapped her hands together, her smile brightening and said:"Well, that's a good plan! Nonetheless, let's get to the trainer stuff, right? So, as you may have heard, my father and I have..."

.

.o.O.o.

.

N felt strange, standing in front of the mirror, watching himself get dressed. It just...It didn't look like him. He wasn't supposed to do this. Not yet, at least.

The coronation wasn't supposed to take place until he was of age. And the gown he was currently wearing just seemed to be too...big. Too much. It didn't fit. N simply felt uncomfortable, as he stood in silence, waiting for the grunts and the two goddesses to get him ready. Nobody dared to talk, not even N, and whenever something happened, a whispered apology was all that dared to break the stillness of the room. A whisper that didn't help making N feel any more comfortable. He...He already missed the old ways. When Anthea and Concordia hadn't addressed him as "My Lord". When the grunts had dared to _look_ at him.

No one had been all too pleased by Ghetsis sudden order, as not much had been prepared just yet. Their Lord had turned 17 just recently and all had thought they had to wait for another year. But then again, the grunts supposed there had to be a reason. They wouldn't be told why, of course, but there had to be. Ghetsis was a good leader. A kind, although strict leader. Whatever the reason for the sudden hurry, it had to happen and they'd all happily do there part to make the ceremony as grand as it deserved to be.

They were to witness the coronation of a king.

Of the king of Team Plasma and, eventually, Unova.

And this very grandeur was what made N feel uncomfortable, although he really shoudln't. But he couldn't help it. He _knew_ it was important. It was supposed to be a symbol, this ceremony, a symbol to all those who had joined Team Plasma.

_He_ was supposed to be a symbol.

It was Anthea's soft voice that disrupted his thoughts and his head snapped up (he tried his best to avoid looking in the mirror). "My Lord", she said, gesturing to the grand door, leading to a hall.

Leading to _the_ hall.

He disliked that word. _Lord_. Of course, the grunts had always referred to him that way, but...not Anthea. Not Concordia. It didn't fit them. The words...It felt as if there was an invisible barrier between them. As if things had changed.

But they hadn't, right? He...Everyone knew what he was to become. Could a simple crown really make such a difference?

"My Lord, it is time."

.

.o.O.o.

.

They had gotten everything they needed. Honestly, Touko hadn't paid to much attention to what Professor Juniper had told them, after all she knew about all of that stuff already. Instead she had tried out whether Oshawott would fit on her shoulder (it did, but Ollie was way too heavy) or on her head (Ollie had been too scared to sit there) and checked her stats time and time again (after all, she had gotten access to a Pokédex, which made things a lot easier).

Ability: Torrent

Nothing special from that side. Just it's standard ability. It could come in handy though.

Nature: Timid

Its speed got boosted and its attack got reduced. It wasn't necessarily the best nature for an Oshawott to have, but it didn't reduce its special attack, which was probably the most important thing. And a bit of extra speed could come in handy in some battles.

Touko couldn't help but grin once she had finished scanning her starter. She was so…. _normal_. So absolutely, boringly normal. But it was the most exciting thing she had ever seen in all her life.

She had a starter. This Oshawott was her Pokémon. _Her_ okémon.

Bianca and Cheren seemed to do the same thing, judging from their regular glances at their newly gifted Pokédexes. And, Professor Juniper knew, of course, that the three trainers weren't necessarily paying close attention, a behavior that strongly reminded her of her own youth. She couldn't blame them for being impatient. Although, and she reminded the three of them of this little, annoying fact plenty of times, they had to wait one more day.

Touko hated it. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got. This...This sucked! She...She just wanted to feel like a trainer, after all those years of working so hard to archive her dream! And now she had to wait another, stupid day. Touko couldn't help but huff as Professor Juniper went on and on about the responsibilities of being a trainer and other stuff she already knew. To be fair though, Professor Juniper tried and after roughly half and hour all three of them were released back home. The three practically stormed out of the room once she had finished. Or rather, Touko and Bianca did, with Cheren trailing behind him, his Snivy by his side.

Professor Juniper simply sighed, watching the three of them go.

Cheren and Snivy...It fit. Their personalities, that was. The other two...not so much. But every trainer had to take on some challenges and for Bianca and Touko taming their Pokémon would be the first.

Professor Juniper watched them leave the building, expecting them to make their way home, but then she frowned, surprised by them taking a left, instead of going straight. What were they planning? Oh, well. They were trainers now. Surely, they'd be a reason.

.

.o.O.o.

.

It had been Touko's idea to trudge through the rain for just a tad longer than they had too. Just a quick detour she had said. Bianca had been in on it immediately and Cheren...well, Cheren had gone along, not minding the rain all that much.

He'd have to take a shower anyway.

Amusingly, Touko was the one regretting her decision more than anybody else. Except maybe for Oinky, as the Tepig had practically begged Bianca to be recalled into his Pokéball. Bianca hadn't liked that (after all, she wanted to spent as much time with him as possible), but Cheren had made her do it. "It's better for your Pokémon", he had said, pointing at the streams running down the streets. Touko had agreed. And Bianca had recalled the fire pig Pokémon.

Touko's socks were soaked by now (luckily, her mother had forced her to put on a jacket), but she was undeterred, her eyes starring at the goal just in front of her, as her two best friends idly made their way towards Route One and Ollie happily played in the water.

And then...they stopped. Just in front of the sign announcing the end of Nuvema Town. "Something is coming. Our sea breeze tells you that", the sign read.

Touko let out a shakily breath and closed her eyes, as suspension built up inside of her. She had taken this route plenty of times. But...It had always been different. Just a little bit different than compared to now.

She...She was a trainer.

A trainer!

And while she had to wait just one more day...She couldn't resist. She had to know what it felt like. Be it just for a second.

"Ready?", she murmured, her voice oddly faint, but she just couldn't talk any louder than this. She was too taken aback by _everything_.

But the almost spiritual atmosphere didn't last forever.

"OF COURSE!", Bianca screeched, before snatching Touko's wrist and pulling her forward, taking Cheren's hand in the process and pulling him along. Both trainers almost fell and for a second, Touko's suspension and excitement was just….gone. But then they were on Route One and the thunder grew louder and the lightning grew brighter and...And the feeling was back.

For a second, all Touko could do was gaze at the grass laying in front of her, at the muddy pathways between flowers and trees. She had seen this plenty of times already, but now, holding a Pokéball in her right hand, although empty (Ollie was still playing in the rain), it looked...fresher.

And in that very moment Touko just knew the world had just become a whole new place.

She couldn't help but smile a goofy smile.

"Great. And now let's go back or else we'll probably catch a cold", Cheren interrupted the brunette's train of thought. Bianca, still holding both her friend's hands, tore her gaze away from the view in front of them, a grin threatening to slit her face.

"Yeah, you're right!", she cheered, her excitement clearly showcased on her face. She let go of Touko's and Cheren's hands and made her way back, Cheren following her along.

"Touko?", she called back to the third of them and at once, the girl's head snapped away from the Route that lay ahead of her. She barely managed to whisper a faint "Yeah", too taken aback by the weight of what was going to happen (had she truly just realized it _now_?). But she didn't have much time to think about it, as Bianca took hold of her wrist once more and dragged her along. But, although Touko had to leave…

She knew, the world would be just a fresh and new as it had been just five seconds ago. She smiled.

The future lay ahead of her.

.

.o.O.o.

.

N wanted to run. He wanted to run down the aisle, get the crown and then run away, far away, to a place where there was...less. Less of e _verything_. He could feel a thousands eyes resting on him, as he strode down the aisle, four grunts holding up the coat he dragged along behind him. He could a thousand held breathes and he could feel a thousand mind's anticipation.

Should he smile? Should he keep his face serious? They...They had told him _so_ much about this day. About the day he was finally, _finally_ , going to start what he had worked for all his life.

But they had never told him what a king looked like. Surely not as terrified as he did right now? No. They'd be proud. Proud of what they were to archive. Wise eyes would rest on every single one of their subjects, telling them how loved they were and how their king would do everything to protect them from evil. Surely, a king would fill the coat he was wearing. Surely they'd feel like it fitted them, seeing as it had been made just for them. They wouldn't feel small and vulnerable. They'd feel strong. Invincible. They'd feel like every inch the person they were supposed to be.

They, the sages, the goddesses, Ghetsis, they had told him so much about this. He knew everything there was to know about it. He knew the words he were to recite. He knew the amount of steps he had to take. He knew were to stop. He knew when to look up, when to speak, even when to _breathe_.

But they had never told him what he was supposed to feel.

He had been...For so long, he had been excited just thinking about the day the coronation was supposed to take place. Just a year from now, all he had dreamt of would come true, he could finally, _finally_ , fulfil his destiny, just by putting on a golden crown. But then why, why all of sudden, did he feel so...so _unprepared_?

He should smile. _Smile_.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't stop his voice from shaking as he recited the vows to serve the liberation of Pokémon loyally either. He couldn't stop himself from shaking, or feeling small or talking just a bit too fast and a bit too quiet.

But, still.

N recited the words. His voice may have been too faint, too fast, maybe it was shaking while a thousand eyes followed his very movement, but...he recited them. And, just a second before Ghetsis finally lowered the crown onto his head, the sage whispered:"I'm proud of you, Natural."

And that was all he needed to hear. Finally, his eyes lit up. Finally all his fear was washed away. Finally, he almost felt as if he fit the coat. And, although the crown weighted heavy on his head, N couldn't help but feel liberated. The fire that had started in his eyes spread to his lips and he smiled.

And when he turned around, he was greeted by a thousand cheering voices and a thousand clapping hands.

And by a brand new world.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there and thank you for reading the first chapter of my fic ^^ I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to hear your opinion in the comment section - be it good or bad. Hopefully, you'll stick around for longer and hopefully you'll find enjoyment in reading this ^^
> 
> About this story itself: It will be a slowburn romance covering the entire journey through Unova plus my made up post-game shenanigans - or, that's the plan so far. I will really take my time with this, so settle in for a long ride, but don't forget, this is still ferriswheelshipping!
> 
> Read you later  
> Bluestpaw


	2. A black beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N liked maths. You had a function. You had a matching graph. You had a formula describing a process and this simple function would give you all the answers you needed. You didn't get blind sided. You didn't get surprised. You didn't suddenly get crowned king.
> 
> -
> 
> It was this exact moment in which Touko had finally managed to snatch her PokéDex and swiftly turned around to support her starter (and to check that Patrat) only to be met with a different scene. The Patrat was gone and Ollie was crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This fanfcition is greatly inspired by maydei's amazing "The truth will prevail" (https://archiveofourown.org/works/621712). Go check it out!

Too little colours  
Chapter 2  
A black beginning

* * *

It was the 25th of August and everything screamed that I'd be a wonderful summer's day. Yesterday, a certain young trainer had been supposed to leave her home to start her journey, after having received a lifelong partner in the form of a super cute Oshawott. Furthermore, the second deluge had threatened to drown Nuvema town yesterday and bury it's ruins in the sea for all of eternity. Today the sun apparently tried its best to make up for yesterday.

Yesterday, Touko hadn't been able to stay in bed. Today, she couldn't get up.

Apparently, Ollie was scared of thunderstorms. And once they, meaning Cheren, Bianca and Touko, had made their way back home, the storm had only grown in strength. Thunders had come crashing down and lightning had struck the sky and Ollie had been absolutely terrified. Touko had been overjoyed by this, after all this was the perfect opportunity to spend the night soothing her starter and they could start the everlasting friendship all the stories about successful trainers promised (she had had somewhat of a guilty consciousness for thinking so though)! Instead of recalling Ollie back to her Pokéball, Touko had taken the Pokémon into her arms and cuddled it, trying to calm it with soothing words.

Her efforts had been in vain.

She had managed to hold out until three o'clock in the morning before she had collapsed from fatigue, only to be awakened by a screaming Oshawott, sitting at the other end of her room. At this point she had chosen to do the irresponsible thing and had recalled her starter back into her ball. In Touko's defense, she had felt bad while doing so. Plus, she was really, really tired. And she had even held onto the small capsule all night long, pressing it to her chest! Touko had read somewhere that Pokémon could hear things while inside their Pokéballs, so maybe, just maybe, Ollie heard her heartbeat. Maybe it soothed her. Maybe...And then Touko had already fallen asleep.

She was rudely awoken the next morning by a ringing alarm clock, which had been quickly disabled, a grumbled "five more minutes" being the young trainer's only reaction. And a shift to the other side of the bed.

After failling asleep again, she was eventually the sun that had made Touko sleepily open her eyes and realize it was already 11 am. After a few minutes of disorientation, Touko realized just what that meant and then she shot up, a "Shit, shit, shit" coming over her lips, while she hastily made her way to her wardrobe. Quickly she had snatched some clothes and her newly gifted Pokéball and had raced downstairs, almost toppling over in the process, her mind not focussed on where exactly she was going. And then she was downstairs already (in less than five minutes, a new record!), still not fully awake, blinking at a nicely decked table. At first, she was confused. What? Why was there breakfast? It was eleven o'clock! But then a grin started spreading on her face once the sleepiness was gone.

Her mum was simply the best!

Talking of which, her mother's face appeared in the doorway leading to the kitchen in that exact moment. "Oh! You're awake! I'm surprised you'd sleep in this long!", she exclaimed, stepping out of the hallway.

After a few short moments of taking in her daughter's appearance, Celine added:"Has...Ollie? been giving you a lot of trouble? She seems to be afraid of thunderstorms..."

Sleepily, Touko rubbed her eyes, processing her mother's question (she couldn't properly concentrate, as the smell of delicious pancakes had found its way to her nose), but then she nodded her head, a gesture quickly followed by a yawn.

"Mhm...She's really afraid….I tried..."

At once, her grin disappeared and she glanced at the Pokéball, still in her hand. Touko let her head hang low.

"I...I didn't manage to calm her down", she whispered, disappointed by her own actions. She had been selfish when she had recalled her starter, putting her own desires and needs above the happiness of her partner. How was their friendship supposed to work out if she behaved like this?

But her mother simply laughed, approaching her daughter and giving her a big hug. Celine expected herself to be forcefully shoved away, an annoyed groan her daughter's only reaction. And maybe an, almost, disgusted sounding, "Mu-um! I'm 16!". But she was to be disappointed this time.

Or, rather, she was not to be disappointed.

Instead of turning away, her daughter stayed in the embrace, sniffling a bit.

Celine shook her head, before stepping away and shoving her daughter towards the dining table.

"Don't worry about it too much, Touko. It's been only your first day! You tried, didn't you? And I'm sure your Oshawott appreciates it..."

She pressed her daughter into the seat and put a plate with a bunch of pancakes in front of her.

"After all, she didn't break herself out again. So she can't have felt all too bad about it, right?"

At this, Touko looked up, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. She even dared to snatch the honey and pour a considerable amount of it over her pancakes. Her mother was right. Ollie hadn't broken herself out of her Pokéball. So she...she wouldn't be too angry, right? But then her bad mood turned bad again. She was supposed to be a trainer. No, she wanted to be a trainer and she had failed to be one in the very first night of her new life.

"I know it sucks", Celine added, sitting down on the other side of the table, taking the cup of tea she had sat down there earlier,"But trust me. She won't be angry."

Celine smiled an encouraging smile, only to be met with a rather rebellious and somewhat arrogant expression.

"How would you know?", Touko sneered. Pah. As if her mom knew anything about being a trainer! She had made in mistake and her mum should simply let her sulk for a while now! Clearly unhappy, Touko started to poke the freshly made pancakes her mother had magically made appear.

Arceus, Touko loved pancakes.

"I was a trainer once too, you know?", Celine retorted, taken by surprised by her daughter's sudden anger. Well, she was a teenager after all.

But Touko wasn't done yet.

"Yeah. You were a "trainer". You completed a gym challenge and after a year…"

"Two years", Celina interrupted, her voice taking on a sharp edge. She knew where this conversation was going and she didn't like it one bit.

"Yeah. Two years. And after that you went back to school like everybody else to complete your schooling. That's not what being an actual trainer is, mum!"

By now, Touko had forgotten the reason for the entire conversation, but she didn't care as this conversation was ample distraction. Why couldn't her mum just unde…Touko's thoughts didn't get much farther. Touko loved a good battle - and so did her mother.

"Well, those two years are still a far cry from the time you have spent being a trainer so far. So, unless your reason for bringing this up was for sulking, I would appreciate you to at least try to listen for once."

Startled, Touko looked up from her now shredded pancakes. Celine's chair screeched when it was forcefully pushed back and she got up, a disappointed expression distorting her usually calm features. "Now eat your pancakes. I made the just for your big day after all", were her parting words, as she made her way to the opposite side of the house. She couldn't wait for Touko to finally start her journey and grow up. She wouldn't be surprised if she'd get a phone call from her daughter midway through asking her to let her come back home. As spoiled as she was, the moment she'd have to camp out in the rain, she'd probably come crawling back, asking for help. Really, most teenagers didn't have the conviction to even master the gym challenge and Celine knew about the troubles she had encountered while she had collected her badges.

But then again, despite the bugs, the rain and bad food, Touko was way too stubborn to just turn back, regardless of how much she'd eventually grow to despise a trainer's life.

Touko didn't dare to move until her mom had already left the room for a solid two minutes. Then she swallowed the piece of pancake and looked at her plate in defiance.

Pah. Her mum didn't know anything. She had dreamed to become a trainer, just like Touko's dad, but she hadn't had the guts to pull through. She didn't know anything about the life Touko wanted to live. She had simply tried to complete the gym circuit and then she had, halfheartedly tried to take on the Elite 4. Celine hadn't even made it through Victory Road. How would she know anything about the way Touko had to prepare for this journey? But, while Touko kept thinking this, she couldn't shake of the nagging feeling that her mother, well, wasn't wrong. And, that maybe, Touko had been rather rude this morning. But there was no way she'd admit that, so instead she continued tattering her pancakes, suddenly not being all that hungry anymore. She was unsure what she was supposed to do now, until the Pokéball, now laying to her right side, started shaking, successfully catching Touko's attention.

Oh. Yeah. Right.

Her starter.

How could she have forgotten about her?!

Clattering a fork fell to the floor as Touko gripped the Pokéball and released the Pokémon inside, worried biting her lip. Was Ollie going to be angry because of yesterday? Was Ollie going to be angry because Touko hadn't let her out first thing in the morning? What if she hated her, what if she didn't want to be her…

Ollie was none of the above.

Instead of sulking or glowering at her, the young Pokémon simply yawned and rubbed her eyes, just like Touko had done this morning. Then she finally turned to her trainer and...simply blinked. Ollie didn't do anything else for a few seconds (why was this weird girl starring at her again?!) before a small, delicate nose noticed a certain, sweet smell. It didn't take long for the Oshawott to discover the plate filled with pancakes. Pancakes with honey, to be more precise. I took the Oshawott even less time to practically beg Touko to hand them over. Not, that her trainer minded the Water-Pokémon to devour her breakfast. She wasn't hungry anyway. So, without as much of a word, she shoved the plate to her Pokémon and watched as the pancakes slowly disappeared.

Her Oshawott ate a surprising amount of food for being this young. But Touko had saved the majority of the last two year's pocket money for her journey, so she should be good to go.

Plus, she didn't plan on losing anyway.

Talking of which, she had to get going. Her pancakes were eaten (not by her, but her mum didn't need to know that), her bag was packed (it had already been packed for a week or so) and both, Cheren and Bianca, would probably already have left. Maybe they had waited for her for some time, but this long? Impossible!

Thus, feeling a bit more energized (really, Touko had just forgotten about her bad consciousness), she got (jumped) up, startling her starter in the process. Apologetically, Touko patted Ollie on the head, a gesture Ollie seemed to...appreciate. in fact, it almost seamed as if the small, blue Pokémon stretched its head towards Touko's hand as she reached down.

How strange.

Luckily, Ollie wasn't too angry about the whole thunderstorm ordeal (or maybe having been gifted a full plate of pancakes had simply convinced her not to be mad anymore), so Touko decided to leave the Sea-otter Pokémon be (eating more pancakes) and raced up the stairs, to get her suitcase and bag.

**.o.O.o.**

Absent-mindedly, N solved yet another Rubik's Cube and put it on the stack of Rubik's cubes he had already solved throughout the day. It were days like these in which he missed his small, black companion. He was used to Zorua strolling around his room, but today, the Tricky Fox Pokémon was nowhere to be seen.

A sigh escaped N's lips as he his gaze shifted toward the predominant window, showing nothing but cave walls. The window actually lead to a balcony and if it weren't for the castle to still be underground, one would have a spectacular view over the garden. A garden N could see Zorua and himself explore in the near future. If Zorua was there.

Another sigh escaped N's lips. Zorua (his real name was Big Spot but for some reason, Zorua preferred to be called Zorua) was his own master. N couldn't stop him from doing whatever his heart desired and he had no intention of changing that. Although, he wouldn't have minded his best friend's presence. After all, today was special. Well, yesterday had been special, but today was the day after the special day and just now all the realization truly set in, with all the celebration going on yesterday and the congratulations (half the sages had tried to get him drunk) and the whole awkwardness between his sisters and him and also he was tired, as he had refused to sleep in (his father would have never allowed such lack of discipline) and…

He was now the King of Team Plasma.

For some weird reason, N felt the urge to get up and move around in a certain way to express his feeling of happiness. But he didn't. He knew that dancing was a common thing done by humans, but it didn't mean he had to do it too.

He was free to choose after all.

So, instead he tried to focus on the equations in front of him once more. Simple algebra. Nothing special. He had pondered whether he should get some analysis problems, as they seemed to be the exact opposite of life sometimes, but he had already solved all of the ones given to him by the sages, so that was out of the question.

N liked maths. You had a function. You had a matching graph. You had a formula describing a process and this simple function would give you all the answers you needed. You didn't get blind sided. You didn't get surprised. You didn't suddenly get crowned king.

N sighed again as he, by habit, looked around the room for his small, black companion, just to be met with nothing. Zorua could have, at the very least, stayed until N had left the castle. There was a tour scheduled, through all of Unova, introducing Team Plasma to the region once more and it was going to start rather soon. They had already held such a tour so a few years prior, however Ghetsis had informed him that another tour would do good to gain them some more traction again. And they needed the publicity right now. After all, N being crowned King brought him closer to getting recognized by the legendary dragon of truth, which in turn would bring him closer to free all Pokémon from the terror that was modern society. In addition, once the tour was started, N was to have his journey. The goddesses and Ghetsis had for once agreed on this, however, the way he was to experience Unova had been a topic of heated discussions. They had eventually agrred to let him experience the routes by himself, but not all at once. He was to return to Team Plasma's safe embrace ever so often, to ensure his well-being and to be educated on what he had learned.

N bit his lip (but just for a split second - biting one's lip wasn't a proper habit for a prince and most certainly not for a king). He wasn't too fond of his sisters' idea. He didn't mind seeing more of Unova, but they had insisted that he was to interact with other humans. Technically speaking, he knew how to do that. He spoke several languages, he knew of all the social standards and societal rules that were so vital to abide by. He was aware of the many milieus making up human society. But, applying all this knowledge to the real world would prove to be a challenge. Or so the goddesses had told him. Thus, in conclusion, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. And while he was a king, this thought alone made him feel uncomfortable (although it didn't make sense, but, as he had pointed out earlier, humans don't make sense).

Another sigh escaped his lips before turning back to his simple and logical equations. At least he'd get to know some more Pokémon.

**.o.O.o.**

She stood in the doorway, her pink satchel hanging from her shoulder and a big, black suitcase standing behind her. Ollie sat on top of it, curious eyes staring at her in wonder. What were all those weird feelings her trainer was sending out about? Was she scared of leaving too? That's great! So was she! They could just stay at the lab and spent their days playing and being safe! A smile overtook Ollie's face and she sat up properly, hope lighting up her eyes, as she watched the girl and her mother do human stuff.

"So, it's time!", the girl said, her voice shaking while sounding as if she was about to get the biggest shell in the entire world. There was a certain sadness to it though. Probably because her friends couldn't have the biggest shell in the world. If Oshawott was ever to get that shell, she wouldn't be sad that Fireball and Green parade wouldn't get it. Heck, she'd rub it into their stupid faces!

The older woman's eyes softened (was she on the verge of crying?), as she hugged her daughter and whispered a choked "Yes. It is." Then she added an even more silent "I'm so proud of you". And, finally, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore, the tears that every mother spills when their children must leave (or so Professor Juniper had said and well, Professor Juniper knew everything, so she had to be right, right?).

Was Celine proud? Sure. Was she scared? Even more so.

A touching scene, really. Ollie wanted to get up and pull the woman's trousers, smile at her and tell her everything was going to be OK, although the young Water-Pokémon knew nothing was going to be okay (and also that woman looked kind of scary). Tepig had told her of all the dangers of the world (there were murderers and people stealing Pokémon too!) and Soft Wave was simply terrified. She didn't want to go. Her trainer didn't seem to want to go either. Why...Why couldn't they just stay?

For a moment, Oshawott was on the point of crying until she remembered all the mean things Fireball could say. It would only get worse if she stayed behind. So, maybe they should go on this journey. Have some...maybe even have some adventures. They had to be safe of course, but a bit of, uh, action surely wouldn't be to bad, would it? Surely, they could figure things out, that terrified yet terrifying girl and her. Oshawott didn't really got to finish that thought though, as suddenly the suitcase snapped back and she almost lost her balance. The girl had suddenly let go of her suitcase and had hugged her mother back, patting her on the back.

The girl was shaking.

But then, the tender embrace was broken apart as the girl leaned back. Swiftly, she wiped her eyes with the hand of her back, a hesitant smile trying to cheer up the older woman. It didn't work. To be fair, her smile wasn't all that convincing.

"I will miss you", the older woman murmured.

"I'll miss you too, mum", the girl sniffled. And then she threw her arms around her mother once more, this time properly embracing her.  
She was leaving. She was finally leaving.

Who would have thought that, after all those years of hard work, she'd be frightened by this prospect?

"It...It's not like I'll stay away for long...", the girl choked, this time rebellion mixed in with her feelings Ollie noted. She had to stay on Route One for a week. A whole week. Her mother wanted to make sure she would get along with her starter and that she was capable of camping out all on her own for a few days. And Touko had to check in after the first three days.

A week was a third of the time most trainer's spent on getting their first badge, including training and traveling. Touko had discussed this topic time and time again, but her mother had been unrelenting. Her daughter planed to become a trainer after all, thus, she didn't have to worry about not completing the gym circuit within a year.

"Enter Accumula Town before the end of that week and I'll revoke your trainer license", her mother mused (though there was a sharp edge to the woman's voice). Again, the embrace was broken up and now, Touko's feeling of sadness had most definitely taken on a rebellious tone.

"But...but what if I need to buy items? Then I'll have..."

"As I said earlier, Cheren stopped by and told me he's to hand you five Pokéballs."

"What if I ne…"

"It's the first route."

"And potio…?"

"Touko!"

The girl sighed and took a step back, grasping for her suitcase's handle. She knew there was no point in arguing. But she really, really, wanted to just...go. Prolonging it surely would make everything worse than it already was.

"Well, then", she said, turning sideways to look at her starter. Curiously, her Oshawott sniffed the air and then looked at her, wonder filling her eyes. "See you in three days, mum!" She tried to smile again. And once more, she failed. "See you in three days", her mother responded, waving at her daughter and waiting for the girl to depart. And depart she did. She murmured a last "See you", before she took firm hold of her suitcase and turned it around (minding her Oshawott's balance, of course) and making her way out of the front yard.

Three days weren't much, both woman thought. In fact, they had been apart for much longer than that already. But, once Touko had turned around and waved her mother a single last goodbye, they both knew it was so much more than just three days. And Ollie came to the realization that, although the girl was terrified, this journey was going to happen. They were leaving. They were actually leaving.

Ollie couldn't help but gulp.

**.o.O.o.**

Alone, N wandered through the castle's corridors. Well, no. He wasn't actually alone. In fact, there were quite a lot of people surrounding him, a total of six guards, but he...felt alone? No, that didn't sound right either. He felt lonely. Yes, lonely. That was probably the most fitting word.

The guards didn't even look at him! Not even a single glance. Sure, N was used to people cladding themselves in silence whenever he entered a room (N didn't want them to do that - how was he supposed to learn things if they fell silent whenever he laid an eye on them - but they never ceased this rather annoying habit of theirs.) but at least their eyes didn't shy away from him. At least he could pretend they were somewhat familiar.

Usually, they'd look at him curiously and usually he despised it however the feeling of being observed was better than this feeling. Whatever it was.

N could, of course, just order them to chitchat. But he, although he was Team Plasma's King, did not enjoy forcing people to do things they didn't want to do. And he knew of his father's orders. He didn't want to get any of them into trouble. Thus, instead of bothering the grunts, they kept going. In utmost silence, that was. As if they were frozen in time, as if their surroundings changed and nothing else did. But that was, mathematically speaking, impossible of course.

They were on their way to Victory road. For some fresh air. To escape the boundaries that his father had set him (though N understood why). N had requested to be brought here and the sages had demanded that he was to be accompanied by at least six guards. At all time. Except for his room. N should really thank the goddesses for that.

Speaking of which, he hadn't seen them all day long. His lessons had been canceled for the week leading up to his journey and he was left to do whatever he wanted to. They passed some grunts. They bowed. N hung his head as he followed his entourage.

Maybe he could visit them later? But then again...They had behaved rather strangely after the coronation. Maybe they had been just as excited as he had been? Although, it was strange they hadn't kicked him out of his room this morning, demanding for him to do more than just maths and talk to Zorua.

**.o.O.o.**

Route One looked way less promising (and menacingly, in Ollie's eyes) if there was no rain pouring down Touko figured as she laid eyes on the small pathway once more. In fact it looked rather peaceful. There were some patches of wild grass that probably housed some Pokémon. Flowerbeds adorned the route and a river quietly flowed by (at some point, Touko had promised herself she'd explore the Route laying ahead more thoroughly). There really wasn't anything special about it (except for the many puddles that made traversing it so much more unpleasant).

For a moment Touko regretted taking her first steps yesterday instead of patiently waiting. However, patiently waiting wasn't one of Touko's strengths, so the pay-off had most likely been greater this way. It still sucked though, that she was so devoid of any real emotions. The fact her mother made her wait for another week before she was allowed to actually start surely didn't help to make her feel the sense of adventure that she was longing for either and Touko huffed once more. That her mother had to be this stubborn...And the silhouette of Accumula Town laying ahead was teasingly visible against the horizon, easily made out in such pleasant weather. The town itself was merely a stone's throw away, not even a day's march. More like half an hour. Touko's old school was there and she had traversed this path with Bianca on a daily basis. When they has still gone to elementary school Cheren had been there too, but once they had entered middle school things had changed. Cheren had gone to Striaton City, as he had been accepted into the prestigious Trainer school there due to his academic excellency. He had needed to get up so much earlier because of it and maybe this had played a role in the three friends slowly estranging themselves. They were still friends, of course, but, well, Cheren somehow always ended up as the third wheel whenever they went anywhere.

But it didn't matter anymore. Now, all three of them were on equal footing.

Talking about Cheren, where was he? And where was Bianca? Her mother had said Cheren was waiting for her, to hand over some Pokéballs, a gift from Professor Juniper, maybe she could ca…

"Arceus, how long did you stay in bed today?", a familiar voice scolded, successfully interrupting her thoughts, and a black haired teen made his way out of a patch of wild grass. He dusted off his clothes and adjusted his glasses, before facing the younger brunette.

"I've been waiting for hours! I was planning to get to Accumula Town today, not tomorrow!"

Cheren shook his head as he saw Touko nervously scratching her back, an embarrassed smile on her face and seemingly looking at her starter for help. Ollie didn't seem to notice her trainer's pleas for help, as she stared off into the distance, sniffing the fresh air. Cheren let out a mildly annoyed sigh before closing the distance, holding Snivy's Pokéball in his hand. Touko's eyes lit up at the sight of it.

"Have you named it yet?", she asked, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. Now it was up to Cheren to be embarrassed.

Oh.

Yes.

He had forgotten about this tiny, teeny, minny little promise. He shied away from Touko's questioning gaze as he knew what promises meant to her. You couldn't break promises. That was against the rules. And you didn't just simply break rules.

Well, rules like those. Touko had never had had any trouble ignoring rules that she deemed irrelevant. Like, say, that you're not supposed to enter this building ("But guys, it just smelled like a mystery to be uncovered!")

"Well, no", Cheren ended up murmuring once he had gotten a hold of himself.

"I didn't. Not yet, that is!"

Blushing he starred at the Pokéball in hand, brows furrowed. He hadn't even thought of a name so far. What did you call a starter? What did you call a Snivy? Were there any rules to follow? Any to go to names?

Cheren's train of thoughts got abruptly interrupted though, as Touko simply chuckled in response and mused:"If you don't hurry up, Bianca will name it for you and unless you want a name ending on a "-y", you better decide!"

And then she stepped forward, snatching the Pokéball out of his hand and called out the Snivy. A weak "Hey!" was the only response Cheren could muster, cheeks still flushed from embarrassment.

Upon seeing her friend, Ollie jumped off of the suitcase and, essentially tackled, the other Pokémon. Not that the Snivy seemed to mind, as they both started – talking? - giving off a series of incomprehensible sounds. And while the two Pokémon seemed to chat just fine, an awkward silence spread between the two teenagers, only to finally be interrupted by Touko (who really didn't like awkward silences):"Well, my mum said you stopped by earlier?" It was a simple question, but enough to, well, get a conversation going once more.

"Oh, yes".

Hastily, Cheren grabbed his back and took out five Pokéballs (not all at once, obviously) and then handed them to Touko.

"Professor Juniper gave them to me. She wants us to fill the PokéDex after all and thought getting some firsthand experience might help. Obviously, she already knows everything about the Pokémon on this Route, but we may be able to catch another team member. Talking of which, are you going too?", he inquired, his voice unusually fast.

Obviously, he wasn't going to catch anything on this Route. The Pokémon around Striaton City were the same and they were just a tad bit stronger, so, if anything, he'd get himself one of those. Touko shook her head.

"I won't. For the same reasons as you do. Though, getting some experience might help", she added, knowing Cheren didn't need any of that. Catching Pokémon had been part of his curriculum after all, unlike Bianca's and Touko's. Their school wasn't specialized on instructing future trainers and instead was more open-minded. Getting a degree at Touko's school meant you'd go off to university or college or you'd start an apprenticeship. Getting one from Cheren's school meant that the one year break was mandatory (in Touko's school merely ten students in her grade had decided to take it) and you'd have to come back afterwards to finish your schooling. It meant you got supported by the school throughout your journey and it meant you might just become a gym leader or Ace Trainer or anything related to training Pokémon really. Touko had dreamed of going to that school, but, well, Touko simply didn't excel in school like Cheren did.

"I bet if you catch one here, you'll never want to let it go again", Cheren mused again, knowing his friend. He didn't get why Touko had made all those elaborate plans on when to catch which Pokémon to use for which gym.

"Knowing you, it would break your heart to not put it on your team", he added, almost feeling sorry for the brunette, as she now took on the expression of a kicked Lillipup.

"That's not true", she murmured, looking anywhere but her friend and shoving her cap into her face, trying to hide the blush forming on her cheeks.

"Just because I'm not as heartless as you are..."

Cheren frowned, thrown off guard by that comment.

"I'm not heartless!", he insisted, feeling strangely insulted by this small remark.

"Yes, you are! You didn't even name your starter! How isn't that heartless?"

"What if it already has a nam..."

"A name you'll never know! Just imagine a bunch of aliens would kidnap you! I bet you wouldn't like being called "human" all the time just because they don't know your actual name!" Touko huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Cheren simply grinned.

"But that's not what's happening. First of, I wouldn't even know what they call me anyway. After all, I don't speak their language. And second, if I ever get kidnapped by aliens, the way they call me is my last concern", he responded coolly, while rolling his eyes. Coming up with a scenario like this was so typical Touko. Then he glanced at their two starters, sitting in the grass and watching the waves of the nearby river wash ashore.

A few birds sang in the distance.

"I bet Ollie loves her name. Isn't that right, Ollie? Ollie?".

Touko turned and shouted her starter's name, triumphantly glancing at her friend.

She was met with indifference. Ollie didn't even as much as look at her. Touko's smile froze on her face. Cheren chuckled.

"I see. Ollie must really love its...er, her nickname", he remarked, grinning smugly.

"Hmpf", Touko huffed, crossing her arms:"You're just being stubborn." And thus she decided to let the topic rest and moved on to the next on her list. One that was way more important than a stupid name anyway.

"Where's Bianca?", she asked, watching her starter now play in the river's waves, the Snivy peacefully sitting next to Ollie and watching the waves crash onto shore.

"Bianca?", Cheren questioned, a brow raised,"I don't know. I haven't seen her all day. Really, I just wanted to go to Accumula Town and settle down in the PokéCenter, so I can start training. After all, we wanted to rendezvous there, didn't we?"

He had asked that question intentionally. He knew of Touko's deal with her mother and he wanted to know if she had gotten out of it.

"Well...You know..." "Yeah, I get it", Cheren interrupted. Touko's mum could be just as stubborn as her daughter.

Both trainers didn't really know what to say after this. It was...The three of them, Bianca, Cheren and Touko, they had dreamed about it. Leaving together, going on a journey, making all those happy memories, but...they knew, they wouldn't travel together. Cheren and Touko both wanted to become successful trainers and neither of them would hold back for the other's sake, so traveling together was out of the question and Bianca...Well, Bianca didn't know what she wanted. Which is why she went on this journey. To figure out what she was going to do with life.

And while the three of them had said goodbye to their families (at least, Cheren and Touko had), saying goodbye to their lifelong friends...It felt different. More absolute. Who knew whether they'd see each other again all that often.

Who knew if they'd see each other again in the first place.

So, instead of tackling that topic now, they instead decided to stare off into the distance, under the pretext of watching the Oshawott and Snivy, both their thoughts lingering on future adventures and soon-to-be success. Until Cheren broke the silence, that was. He clasped his hands together before he nervously started to clean his glasses and muttered:"Well. I need to get going." Then he asked cautiously, not wanting to upset Touko anymore:"See you in a week then, I guess?"

He truly felt sorry for her, but then again, he couldn't let her problems affect his training and progress. Plus, they'd probably meet each other on the Route plenty of times during their journey. They had to take the same paths after all. Which meant he had to train. He didn't want to lose against her, even though he knew he was better prepared for this journey than she was. But Touko could be stubborn. Who knew how many battles she'd win just with her conviction alone.

"What? Oh!"

Touko was jolted by the black haired teen's words but didn't need long to get what he meant.

"Oh, yeah. You need to get to Accumula Town...Well, good luck, I guess?"

Cheren chuckled and snatched his Snivy's Pokéball out of Touko's hand, before returning the Pokémon (considering Ollie's disappointed expression, they had been in the middle of something).

"And you? What are you going to do? Considering...you know?"

Immediately, Touko's heart sank, but she tried not to let it affect her too much.

"I...I guess I'll wait around here. Train a bit. Maybe I'll be able to find Bianca, I don't think she'd wander off all to far without someone by her side..."

She chuckled at that last statement, before shaking her head and looking up to the sky, letting the sun warm her face.

Today was too beautiful to be sulking about some stupid rule, Touko figured. Plus, it could be worse. After all, she was allowed to leave. And surely, Ollie would be a handful. So, deciding she had enough of being sad, she turned to Cheren and said:"The next time I see you, I'll battle you. And you better come up with a fitting name for that Snivy of yours by then or else I won't just kick your Pokémon's butt!" Now it was Cheren's turn to chuckle, as he turned around, facing the direction of Accumula Town, and shouting a quick "See you!" before disappearing between grass and flowers and trees and just all the things you could find on Route 1, really.

For a few moments Touko decided to watch her friend go, feeling somewhat elevated, before turning to Ollie, hands on her hips. Her starter watched her curiously and, well, terrified, as Touko prepared to give her first ever prep-speech.

Technically speaking she had prepared one, but, well, whatever.

"It's our first day as team, Ollie! And, although half of it has already gone by, we need to make the best out of it! I want to see you beat every single Pokémon on this route with ease because we can only allow the best of the best to grace the amazing team of me, the reincarnation of Red himself!"

Of course, Touko's tone was over dramatic and to any human her gestures seemed just a tad too much, exposing them as a joke. But, well, Ollie wasn't a human. And all Ollie saw were pictures of battling and training and some more battling and…By all the shells of the ocean, what had she gotten herself into?

**.o.O.o.**

Touko didn't wait for her threat to become a reality. Yesterday, during the...spontaneous fight between Oinky and Ollie, Touko had gotten a good picture of her new partner's abilities. However, she had never been able to really put them to the test by battling her two friends, no, rivals, so Touko had decided it was time to find a new victim. Maybe some teenager that got too cocky. After all, she had gotten the greatest Oshawott in the history of all Oshawotts. Well, maybe not exactly. Maybe she was the cocky teenager. But then again, they needed to train and really, the Pokémon around this area were so weak, they weren't even worth the effort.

Except, that Touko was about to be proven wrong. By her new partner's scared actions at that.

She really had a timid nature.

Touko had let Ollie practice her Tackle time and time again as a start. She wasn't all to sure what else she was supposed to do as training. As the teenager encountered a severe lack of any trainers and of any wild Pokémon that were wiling to leave the tall grass, she decided to let her starter practice on her (emptied) bag. Maybe for ten minutes or so.

It took Touko a total of five minutes to feel bad for her starter. The poor Oshawott kept practicing and practicing and she, well, she sat in the grass, resting and watching the birds. After considering the pros and cons (surely, she'd make a fool out of herself by joining her partner), she decided to make a game out of it. Every time Ollie hit the bag, so did Touko.

Luckily, not a single soul traversed the Route while they were...training.

Well, not a single human soul that was.

There were quite a lot of Pokémon though. And one of them was a rather curious Patrat. It kept watching them, coming closer and closer in the process, until it eventually sat right next to them, it's weird eyes starring directly into Ollie's soul. Now, Touko didn't mind the Patrat. In fact she thought about catching it and she had almost grabbed a Pokéball before she realized – Professor Juniper didn't need a Patrat. And she didn't plan on getting one for her team. No, she was going for a Lillipup and then she'd sent it to Professor Juniper after getting her first badge. Which, well, that plan sounded mean.

Arceus, why did she feel so bad thinking about boxing a Pokémon? A Pokémon she hadn't even caught yet at that?!

So Touko let the Patrat be. And while she herself didn't mind the Pokémon (and was too caught up with her own morality), Ollie did mind it.

Of course Ollie knew what a Patrat was. She had seen plenty of them in Professor Juniper's laboratory after all. But...They had never been this close. They had always been somewhere else, Ollie and her two friends had rarely ever managed to catch a glance of the brown-furred Pokémon. But most importantly: The Patrats in the lab didn't stare at her. And Ollie greatly disliked being starred at.

She greatly disliked it.

Thus, at first, she tried to tell it to go away, but the Patrat just stupidly snickered and hissed something about humans, weird humans and weak Tackles. Now, Ollie was proud, but not proud enough to attack the Patrat just because it had insulted her. That was something Fireball would do. And maybe Green Parade. But not her. However, her reaction, or rather the lack of it, just seemed to encourage the Patrat to come closer, until it was just mere inches away from her. Of course Touko reacted to this (she couldn't let some Pokémon hurt her starter after all), but Ollie reacted first. And, using her recently trained move, hurled the Patrat across the grass. Or, she imagined she had. In truth the Patrat had essentially only been pushed on its butt, but...The battle was on. And thus started Touko's first real Pokémon battle ever.

Not Ollie's though. Ollie had had plenty of battles already. And while the experience may have been useful...In this very first fight it proved to be a hindrance.

**.o.O.o.**

"Go, Ollie! Use Tackle!", Touko shouted, her heart pounding in her ears as her eyes were glued to the two Pokémon in front of her. The Patrat had gotten up by now, hissing at Ollie and using an attack that seemed to be Leer. It hit Touko's Oshawott and made her stumble back, before shaking her head and...then it sent her running to hide behind Touko. Sure, she had fought before. But that was against her friends. Not some wild beast that was obviously trying to murder her! But, sadly, her trainer was having none of it and shoved her back to the "battlefield" a reassuring smile on her face. She knelt down, patting her on the head and whispering:"Don't worry, buddy, we..." Except this was the real world and not some stupid TV show where everyone awaited their turns and thus, the Patrat simply attacked again.

This time it used Tackle.

It hit hard and made Ollie and Touko scatter, the latter starring at the Patrat in bewilderment. Then she frantically leapt to her bag, searching for her PokéDex, while commanding Ollie to use Tail Whip. Except that Ollie was already busy trying to tackle the wild Pokémon. That's the way they had always fought. Using Tail Whip had always proven to be rather useless so far and therefore, she had resorted to her last move. However, Ollie also knew that Touko was a trainer and Green Parade had always said that trainers knew everything. Which was why the Snivy couldn't wait to finally meet his. So...If her trainer knew everything, but her own judgment…. And then she got attacked again.

Ollie yelped in pain and jumped back, rubbing its elbow. Tears started to form in her eyes. That Patrat was such a meany, calling her weak and all! And that stupid trainer of hers was still doing something.

Probably something useless.

So, she was now stuck with this Patrat, that was getting ready to attack again. But Ollie had had enough. Crying out she leaped forward, tackling the wild Pokémon once more, breaking its focus, before attacking again. The Patrat got to attack once last time (it hit pretty hard, but nothing too dramatic), before it got knocked out and then stumbled back into the tall grass.

Jerk. That's what you get for calling Soft Wave stupid!

Exhausted, the Oshawott sat down, rubbing her bruised elbows and angrily starring at the grass the Patrat had just disappeared back into the grass. Now who was the coward?! Jerk. Still. That fight had hurt. Not all that much, but it had hurt nonetheless.

She had known it! She had known it all along! She had known going on this journey was a bad idea! She was hurt and...and...and Green Parade had said you should always listen to your trainer! And she hadn't! She wasn't even a good trainer Pokémon! And her trainer wasn't even a good trainer! What, what if they wouldn't like each other? Sure, her trainer had been, well, she had tried to be nice, but still! This...all of...it...She wanted to got back to the lab! She...She wanted to rest! She wanted to be left alone! She didn't want to get hurt! Of course, she wanted to get stronger, but...She...This was all so scary! It was new and fresh and scary and terrifying! And...And...And…

She had failed her trainer.

Green Parade had always said they had to listen to their trainers aaaall the time if they wanted to get strong and Green Parade was by far the most clever of the three of them. And now her trainer wasn't even talking to her and...and she didn't even and...and...and...

Ollie couldn't take it anymore. She was still a rather young Pokémon after all and all of this...it was too overwhelming.

It was this exact moment in which Touko had finally managed to snatch her PokéDex and swiftly turned around to support her starter (and to check that Patrat) only to be met with a different scene. The Patrat was gone and Ollie was crying.

She was crying. Arceus, what had she done?!

The teenager dropped her PokéDex immediately and ran over to the Water-Pokémon, sitting down next to her, checking it time and time again for injuries, but finding none. It made Touko worry even more.

Her weird (and by now not so terrifying) trainer was saying weird things. Her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth agape as she kept gently pushing (or, as gently as someone could push while suffering a panic attack) on her skin. Her trainer's fear terrified Ollie. Which then made her cry louder. Which then lead to Touko feeling even worse and starting to panic more which then made Ollie even more scared and on and on and...wait.

For a moment, Ollie sat up and stopped her crying (which, amusingly, sent Touko into another frenzy of panic) as she….she saw her trainer say something else. It felt...warm? Warm and nice and gentle and, well sad. Ollie, of course knew that feeling, as Fireball had sent it out all the time (Fireball might be stubborn and proud and a jerk most of the time, but no one could say he didn't care about his friends). It remembered her of more careless days, before, well, before she had been given the task t travel with this trainer. But most importantly, it made her feel good. Ollie decided she liked that feeling.

Unfortunately, Touko couldn't understand Pokémon and therefore, had not idea why her starter was smiling all of sudden.

"I...I need to get you to the Poké...but….I can't...What...What...", Touko panicked, her voice at least an octave higher then usual, while she desperately tried to prevent tears from forming in her eyes. Her starter was hurt. Because of her. Because of her incompetence. Maybe this one environmentalist group was right, maybe she…maybe she should le-let her Pokémon go free. M-Maybe it was b-better that way. O-Ollie had known so much better what she was supposed to do after all...

Touko wiped her tears away with the back of her hand (she still sniffled though), as she starred at the Pokémon next to her. No, she knew Pokémon liked humans. It was why they had paired up in the first place! But then, Ollie started crying again (suddenly the warmth was gone, replaced by cold dread and loneliness) and that send Touko over the edge.

She picked up the Oshawott, pressing it against her ribcage (Ollie felt like she suffocated, but the feeling of protectiveness was too nice to complain about it) and then she started running towards Nuvema City, as fast as her two (shaking) legs could carry her.

Leaving both, her bag and suitcase, behind.

They weren't important anyway.

**.o.O.o.**

"MOM! MO-OM!", Touko shouted, as she came to a halt in front of her house.

"MO-OM!"

By now, the Oshawott was shivering in her arms. Not because of pain, but because the experience of getting pressed against a rib cage while the person carrying you was running high speed wasn't necessarily a pleasant one.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

"Mom, mom, mom!"

Touko had, by now, reached the front door and frantically rang the bell, her fingers pressing the button time and time again.

Not a cloud was in sight. The birds were chirping and a nice breeze made the grasses and flowers sway in the wind. A few elderly couples made their way through t…

"MOM! MOM! OPEN THE DOOR! MOM! MOM!"

The moment Celine heard her daughter's screams she hastily sat her book aside, looking out of the window and trying to catch a glance at her daughter. then she jumped up and made her way to the door, worried eyes fixed on its handle. What had happened? She tore open the door only to be met with a panting Touko, an Oshawott that had fallen into shock and didn't move anymore and four eyes red with tears.

"What...", was all she managed to murmur before Touko pushed Ollie into her hands, eyes wide with fear. "She's...She's hurt mom! She fought a Patrat and now she's hurt! And…And that's all because of me!"

Celine, by now she had decided the situation wasn't as dramatic as her daughter made it out to be, looked at the Oshawott. Turned it around once. Then she looked back at her daughter, still panting while new tears welled up in her eyes.

Then she sighed.

Sure, there were a few bruises on the small Pokémon's body, but nothing serious. Arceus, Celina knew why she made her daughter stay on Route 1 for a week. But then, Touko's mother realized something else. What...A sigh escaped her lip as she could vividly imagine the scene that had played out in front of her eyes.

"Touko, where's your bag? And your suitcase?", Celine asked, not even bothering to sound angry or surprised or like anything, really.

Arceus, she really knew why she made her daughter stay close. The girl's face froze for a moment, then she glued her eyes to the ground, not daring to look up. She even bit her lip. And pulled her hat into her face, a nervous habit of hers. Celina sighed a second time. Then she took her daughter's Oshawott into her arms and ordered:"Go, get them and pray to Arceus nobody else gets to them first. In the meantime..." She looked at the Oshawott which seemed to have recovered from the shock of being close to her daughter. "I'll...take care of her. And now go. I won't buy any replacements." Touko nodded hastily and dared to look up, glancing at the now moving Oshawott in her arms. Celine, guessing what her daughter was up to ask, responded:"Oh, she'll be fine. And now move it. Now replacements. You can buy it yourself." And then, just to make her daughter finally leave and get her stuff, she added cheekily:"Or, you now, you can ask your father to..."

Celine had never seen anyone turn around faster than her daughter in that exact moment.

"See you", her daughter shouted, glancing at Ollie once more, before making her way back to Route One (and indeed praying to Arceus that she was the first one to find the deserted items).

Celina chuckled. It was too easy to play her daughter.

**.o.O.o.**

Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Ollie enjoyed the steady rhythm of the suitcase's wheels turning on the cobblestone. She was back on her place atop it, watching out for any stone or branch that might send her flying off.

She was feeling much better now. That weird girl's mom had handed her a berry and then she had been allowed to snuggle up to a stuffed Pikachu until her new trainer had come back. They had stayed at the house for some time and had played, which had been nice, but then the girl had decided to leave again, which was sad. The girl's mom was pretty cool and that stuffed Pikachu had been pretty soft. Plus, there was an overall lack of aggressive Patrats.

By now it was well over noon and Ollie wondered where they were headed. More training? She really didn't want to...but then again, she didn't know this way yet, so maybe they were just exploring things! Which, thinking about it, didn't sound all that exciting either.

They weren't exploring. In fact, Touko was walking down a path she had walked ever since she had been able to. It was the way leading to her best friend's home and Touko knew that right now, she needed some best friend interaction. After the traumatic event that was her first real battle, Touko had decided to go a bit softer on both, her starter and herself. They needed to get to know each other first.

And they probably needed to learn how to deal with battles too.

So, instead of going straight back to Route One, Touko had decided to call Bianca. Two times.

The blonde girl hadn't answered her VisoCaster once. If it had been Cheren that kind of behavior would have been normal (heck, anything else would have been weird), but Bianca practically lived on social media. And shady meme websites apparently. Her not picking up the phone was the equivalent of...well...well...Actually, Touko didn't have a good comparison. Still though. And thus, Touko had decided her next course of action was to visit her friend, if she was still at home that was. Maybe Ollie and Oinky could have a battle. They had had one yesterday, but really, it didn't count. And Touko planned on showing her friend the almighty power of type advantages. They didn't really matter yet, because none of the two already knew an elemental typed move, but whatever. She was going to win regardless of type advantages.

But all of that was still laying ahead of her and right now, Touko was following a well-known path, humming a happy tune while occasionally glancing at her starter. It was a nice day. An eventful day maybe, but a nice one nonetheless. She...Well, she enjoyed it. She had had a panic attack and she had needed to say good-bye to her mom, but it was a nice day.

Five minutes later they had finally reached their destination and Touko knocked on the door, knowing the door bell didn't work at the moment. Then she turned to Ollie halfway (the Water-Pokémon's ears were perked up as it closely listened to steps approaching), saying:"Hey, buddy, we're going to visit a friend of yours! Aren't you excited?" Touko didn't get to add anything else, as the door was opened (rather violently at that) and a middle-aged man stared at Touko, his lips pressed together. Touko, of course, knew this face all too well and gave her brightest smile. And a short wave.

"Hello Mister Grayson. Is Bianca still home or has she already left?", she asked sweetly, knowing of the man's temper.

Bianca's father didn't answer at once. Instead his eyes moved to Ollie who had stepped back a bit, right to the edge of the suitcase. Something about that man...She didn't like what he was saying. They had to . Couldn't her stupid trainer hear the man's anger? What if he did something bad?! What, what…

"No", Mr. Grayson interrupted Ollie's thoughts sharply. Surprised by the sharpness of Mr. Grayson's voice Touko took a step back, before she remembered Bianca's dad had never been to keen on his daughter leaving the house. So, instead of getting scared, she simply smiled and nodded thankfully.

"Oh, so she already left? I'll call her again then...Thank...""NO!", he hissed again, his eyes nervously twitching while he kept starring at Ollie.

Ollie decided she greatly disliked this man.

"She...Bianca hasn't left yet. And she won't. She's not supposed to be a trainer."Again, he glanced at Ollie, his expression darkening, before he hissed:"Now get away with those dangerous ideas of yours!"

And then he slammed the door into a stunned Touko's face, who couldn't help but look at the man in bewilderment. What..?

But it was too late anyway. The door was closed and Touko was too scared to knock a second time. Confused she turned, facing her starter that scrambled back to its spot in the middle of the suitcase, looking terrified (like she always did).

"What...Why did he sign her..."

Why did he sign her...Oh...Wait. Touko remembered. She had been surprised when Bianca had handed in the signed letter, that she was allowed to take a one year leave. It had been signed by her mother, which had been rather unusual. But Touko hadn't asked. She knew what her best friend thought of her dad.

Touko wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do now. She had hoped to train with Bianca, but...well...they'd find a solution, right? Bianca would still be able to tackle the gym challenge, right? She had to. Just like Touko, the Blonde had dreamed about...well...traveling.

The three of them had always been a rather curious trio. Cheren wanted to be the Champion, Bianca wanted to see new Pokémon and, well, make friends and Touko...Touko wanted a team of six Pokémon she could trust and simply become a trainer. Maybe she'd try to take on the Champion at some point. Maybe she could become a gym leader. But just like her dad, (she only begrudgingly admitted to this similarity), she wanted to become a trainer. Simple as that. And while Bianca may have had different reasons to take on the journey, she had wanted to do it no less than Touko had. So...She was still going, right?

Absentmindedly, Touko patted Oshawotts head, as she glanced at the silent house behind her. There wasn't much she could do, right? Maybe Bianca's dad had…He hadn't. When Touko went to knoch another time and ask if she could talk to her friend, he hadn't even bothered to open the door. Instead Bianca's mother had showed up, giving her a vague half-smile and stating it was best for Touko to leave now. Maybe spent some time with that...Oshawatt? It was called an "Oshawatt", right? And, you know, do whatever it was that trainers were doing. Then she too had closed the door and Touko (after sneaking into the garden and looking at Bianca's window – the curtains were drawn) had been left with no answer whatsoever. What had changed? What had happened? Maybe, if she stuck around for just a little bit longer...

**.o.O.o.**

Touko had made her way back home after Mr. Grayson had slammed the door into her face a second time (yes, she had knocked a third time – Bianca was her best friend after all), seeking comfort in the promising "KRRRRRRRRRR" of her suitcase's wheels.. On her way back she had called Bianca a total of three more times, before eventually giving up. Once she had made it home, her mom had then sent her away too, telling her "You want to be a trainer, don't you" and insisting she couldn't just show up at her doorstep every time something didn't go quite as planned. If you were a trainer, things never went the way you prepared them.

Celine had gracefully ignored her daughters snarky question on why she had forced her to plan out her journey then. She'd understand. One day, Touko would understand, Celine thought to herself. Then she, too, slammed a door into her daughter's face. Touko's mood had been dampened by that quite a bit (also, she was getting hungry already), but she begrudgingly had made her way back to Route One. This, however, had sent Ollie into a frenzy of fear once more. They were going to camp?! They were actually going to sleep outside?! Unprotected from all the evildoers (Fireball had always talked about bad evildoers that endangered anyone daring to step away from civilization) and danger's that cowered in the dark?! How where they going to survive the night?! So, Touko had needed half an hour to calm down her starter. At least by now she had gotten a hang of it. And she knew she was never ever getting another timid natured Pokémon ever again. Could a Pokémon's nature change? She sure hoped they could.

Once that was done, they trained a bit. And played. And Touko opened a can of Instant Noddles and shared it with Ollie. It was a special mixture, made for Pokémon and humans alike and it was made by this one brand claiming eating the same food as your Pokémon made you bond more easily.

Touko sure hoped they were right, because that stuff was disgusting.

It was the first time in her life Touko actually missed her mom's overcooked pasta.

She kept calling and texting Bianca countless times, but no one picked up the phone and her texts were left on "read". She had even called the landline once, hoping her friend would pick that one up, but instead a rather pissed of Mr. Grayson did. So, at some point Touko decided to let the issue rest. Well, for ten minutes that was, the total amount of time Touko needed to unfold her two second tent. God, she had gone camping before! Why was all of this so much more difficult all of sudden?!

At least Ollie seemed to like the tent (it was blue after all) and had already snuggled into Touko's bedroll. And it didn't look like she was going to get that bedroll back. Which was fine with Touko, really. It was summer, so she hadn't planned on using it anyway. Time went on and she slowly started to settle in fro the night (she didn't want to sleep just yet - it just seemed like the wrong thing to do), when, finally, finally, her VisoCaster rang.

It was exactly 21.00.

The teenager didn't think she had ever picked up this quickly.

"Bianca, what's go..."

"You need to help me run away."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hello there. I hope you enjoyed the time you spent on reading this and if you did, I'd love to see a comment ^^ And if you didn't, I'd still love to see a comment! Comments are great.
> 
> Other than that, for everyone's information: The first ferriswheelshipping scene will take place in chapter five and the whole romance plot will get started once the story reaches Nacrene City (so, according to my plans around chapter 14 - but don't trust my plans).
> 
> In addition, I'd like to let you guys know that I chose to use American English for Touko and British English for N. Why? I don't know. It just felt right and now it stuck.
> 
> Read you at some different point in time (chapter three is already done too, so that should come within this week too!"


	3. A tense blonde and a cheery light copper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N's eyes shifted between the two woman, before settling between them and trying to ease the tension welling up inside him. This was OK. The goddesses gave courtesies to everyone, including some high ranking grunts. It had always been only a matter of time until they expanded this habit of them to greeting him. There was nothing special about it.
> 
> "So...Which film do you want to watch?"
> 
> -
> 
> Bianca and Touko had talked all night, trying to come up with a plan on how to get Bianca to go on her journey. It had taken them some time, but then they had finally managed to figure something out. Was it stupid? Yes. Badly organized? Well, they had talked about it for, like, two hours? So it couldn't be that bad, right? Was it illegal? Well, it kind of involved stealing a Pokémon. But then again, not really, so it wasn't all that dangerous, right? More like…trading. Yes, trading was the most appropriate turn to describe this.
> 
> Touko had managed to catch a Lillipup at some point (yesterday, to be more precise) and was now patiently waiting for Bianca and her d

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon and alos, this story was heavily inspired by maydei's "The Truth Will Prevail" (https://archiveofourown.org/works/621712). Don't forget to check it out!

Too little colours  
Chapter 2  
A tense blonde and a cheery copper

* * *

It was the 26th of August and Touko was exhausted. Really, really exhausted.

Bianca and she had talked until late into the night and then she hadn't set up her tent properly, as in, Touko hadn't swiped the floor beforehand. If the princess on the pea had freaked out because of something small like, well, a _pea_ , she wouldn't have survived Touko's first night as a real trainer.

It had been _horrible_.

Maybe, just maybe she should have listened to her mom when she had told Touko to carefully choose her camp's location. Maybe. Just maybe. And while it was true Touko had camped out fairly often, her mom had told her where to set her tent up every single time. And she had also chosen the camping site. Which were usually, well, they had some convenient additions to their sites.

Like for example bathrooms.

Some things were better left unsaid.

Aside from this, this time there were no storms disturbing her starter's dreams and thus, Touko didn't have to recall and not feeling like a total failure the next morning sure was nice. If her brain had been able to detect such feelings like "guilt" that was.

Her sleepiness didn't last long though as not too soon after she had woken up she remembered her plans for today. She needed to set Bianca's plan in motion. The porpect had excited Touko enough to get her to wake up for approximately three hours before her brain shut down once more.

And, while all the Trainer TV-series suggested otherwise, wild Pokémon...they _didn't_ magically jump out of the grass at any given second.

Well, no. They did. But, just not as often. Touko had needed 20 minutes, _20 minutes_ , to find a Patrat. A simple, normal _Patrat_. It wasn't even shiny!

And then that Patrat had shown no interest at getting into a fight whatsoever, so it had simply made it's way back into the bushes. It had been frustrating but Touko had simply viewed it as a minor setback. Another 30 minutes later and Touko had _finally_ found another Patrat, just for this one to run away too. Now it became disheartening, really. Why was being a trainer so hard? She had prepared after all! Arceus, why hadn't her mom told her about _this_ kind of stuff?! Was she supposed to google everything by herself?!

Of course Touko knew that, yes, she was to do just that, it was her journey after all, but still. What good was having two experienced (more or less experienced, Touko corrected herself) Trainers as parents, if they didn't tell you shit about their struggles?!

Arceus, she could cry out in frustration.

It didn't get any better once they found a third Patrat (one that was willing to fight at that) just to, well, find out Ollie was apparently still traumatized from yesterday. She simply _refused_ to attack it. Touko was on the point of recalling her starter for this kind of behavior before remembering that no, Ollie was a life and breathing being. She had her own fears and traumas and Touko had to learn how to deal with it.

She was still pissed though.

Her mood had improved significantly once Ollie had tried to cheer her up by spitting some water on her. It was probably an attempt to play with her, as it could have been an attack. But Ollie had looked so sad and unhappy and embarrassed, that it felt more like an apology than anything else. And while getting soaked by her starter's spit wasn't necessarily something that'd cheer her up, Touko did notice that this most likely meant that her starter was going to learn water gun soon, which was great news! All her troubles were forgotten and she had picked the Water-Pokémon up and swung her around, happily hugging her in the process.

She had even apologized for her behavior!

And her starter seemed to be much happier after this too! Touko assumed she had gotten the hang of what the brunette had tried to convey, which was some more great news!

After this, Touko had set out once more to look for a suitable Pokémon. At least by now more Pokémon had awoken and there was a bigger variety. Considering she couldn't get close to Patrats and the only other commonly found Pokémon in this area were Lillipup, that may have been an overstatement though.

Maybe she could catch a Pidove, but while there were plenty of birds around here, none of them were Pokémon. It was a shame, really. She could've stomped the first gym so easily if there had been any birds around here.

But there weren't. Well, she could use some practice when it came to catching Lillipup. She had to get one at some point (or rather, before the first badge and she was going to catch it on Route 2) and she by doing this, she could prove that she _was_ indeed able to let go of a Pokémon.

Stupid Cheren.

But first, she had to find one.

So Touko had looked for one for quite some time and then, then!, she had found one. And just like the first two Patrats, it had simply run away.

It was the fourth one that had been less scared of the stampeding human and had stayed long enough for Touko to order Ollie to attack the Lillipup.

_Her_ Lillipup.

Ready and eager to fight. Lv. 3. Decent nature.

It was perfect. And the resulting battle...would she ever have one this intense ever again?

"TACKLE!", Touko shouted as soon as the Lillipup had failed to run away within three seconds. Somewhat embarrassed, Ollie did what her trainer ordered her to do (if Touko would have understood Pokémon, she would have seen a whispered apology and a "I actually like you" from Ollie).

The Tackle...Well, it was a Tackle. By an unmotivated Oshawott Lv. 5. There was not…

IT WAS SOOOOOOO INTENSE! God, had she seen that correctly, the Lillipup had to jump back, and, Arceus, she couldn't believe it and, and…Touko's heartbeat was accelerating as she watched her starter attacking the wild Pokémon. Frantically she ordered Ollie to avoid the opposing Pokémon's attack and when the Oshawott failed to do so, she flinched for a second before thinking of something that could be used to enhance her attacks, something that would make all of this easi…"TACKLE!", Touko shouted again, after Ollie had gotten up. The Lillipup was already readying itself for another move, so they had to act quickly. Maybe spamming Tackle wasn't a great strategy, but whatever. It worked. And eventually, Touko did come up with _something_.

And boy, was Touko proud of that.

"OLLIE, TACKLE THE GROUND!", she screamed, getting closer to her starter, her eyes wide open and switching between the Oshawott and the Lillipup. Where was it going to attack next, which move was it going to use next and would the sand attack, created by Ollie tackling the ground, have an…Touko's world of questions broke apart once she realized Ollie hadn't achieved anything by tackling the ground other than hurting herself. No grand dirt clouds. Not even a small one. At least the Lillipup seemed to be as confused as Ollie was (just _what_ exactly was that girl thinking?!) and thus, Ollie had time to shake the dirt that _had_ stuck to her off and stare at the Lillipup, awaiting more orders. And secretly begging her trainer to just let her use Tackle.

Touko didn't understand her Oshawott though and wasn't really focusing on her either. Instead her eyes were locked onto the Lillipup as her heart threatened to jump right out of her ribcage.  
It hadn't worked...her...it hadn't worked! How was she going to win if she didn't come up with a strategy, she knew that brute-forcing your way to a fight was…

Again, Ollie simply took the decision away from her trainer.

She tackled the Lillipup and pushed it back a bit. Touko's breath hitched as she watched the scene unfold, as the Lillipup got up, as it moved to ready another attack. Well...Maybe brute forcing _was_ the way to go at the...no!

"Wait for it to attack!", Touko cried out,"Don't move until I say so!" She could make Oshawott tackle aside on time, something which would greatly improve her speed and then she could make her starter attack while the Lillipup's back was turned on them and…

To the Water-Pokémon's defense, Ollie _tried_ to evade. But, she hadn't really understood her trainer. She had gotten the whole "Tackle"-part with ease, but she hadn't really gotten that she was supposed to _wait_. So, she got hit again and this time she cried out in pain (That stupid Lillipup! And he had seemed so nice before!). But she patiently waited for more orders. Maybe she didn't want to, but Green Parade had said they had to obey order's. So she would.

Even though she didn't like it.

Immediately after her starter was hit, Touko bit her lip as she saw Ollie getting hurt _again,_ before she remembered what she had learned. Pokémon got hurt. That was kind of the point of Pokémon battles. She would _not_ let the same debacle happen a second time. This was her first fight ( officially that was, she didn't count yesterday) and she was going to win it! Although, it may just have been against a Lillipup.

"TAAAAAAAAAACKLE!"

**.o.O.o.**

Maybe a minute had passed until the Lillipup finally had had enough and ran away yelping, hiding in the tall grass again. For a moment, Touko's expression froze on her face, her mind still having to process that, yes, she had in fact won, while Ollie happily celebrated her victory. She was a winner! Pah, take that, stupid Patrat! Even Touko's face lit up, after all this was a victory and she had…What...Oh.

_Oh_.

They had successfully defeated the Lillipup. Which was nice and all. But they had _defeated_ it.

A sigh escaped Touko's lips as she sat down in the grass, pushing her cap into her face. They had _defeated_ it. You had to weaken it to catch or else they'd simply run away.

_They had defeated it_.

Exhausted Touko lay down, arms crossed behind her head. "Ollie?", she whispered, closing her eyes. Immediately the young Pokémon's ears perked up. "You're awesome. I couldn't have picked a better starter!" She turned her head into the Pokémon's direction and smiled. Then she turned back.

It was the 26th of August and Touko was exhausted. Really, really exhausted.

She'd simply have to catch a Lillipup tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that. After all, there was still time until Friday, right?

**.o.O.o.**

He was sitting in a room. _Alone._

Again.

Well, not if you counted the countless guards, but at this point, a mere five days since his coronation, N didn't.

He was waiting for someone. It was film night. Or rather, it had been film night. The two goddesses were late.

It was strange for them to be late. They had practically forced Ghetsis to allow this event and N hadn't been allowed to skip it. At first he had disliked it. While he enjoyed spending time with the two, he disliked their taste in films. Especially Anthea's. But that had changed and while he still greatly disliked their taste in films, it was...It was fun. It was a nice evening. A nice break from everyday life.

Which might have been the reason why N was so frustrated by them being late.

They weren't supposed to be late. _No one_ was supposed to be late. It's what he had been told time and time again.

N sighed, playing with the golden cube around his wrist. He didn't want to start without them, especially because...well...He didn't get to choose the films and really, they were only ever fun if they watched them together.

He was about to get up, hoping he could find them, but was immediately halted as a total of four (four!) guards rushed toward him, all of them sharing the same, worried expression. "My Lord! How can I be of assistance?"

It was an eerie situation. All four of them said the same thing at the same time and bowed exactly alike. Like machines.

N found himself slightly pleased (and, to be fair, he _was_ a bit wierded out). He liked machines. A lot. They were predictable. So, in a way like grunts. "Uh..." He was, however, not so pleased by the fact he was apparently not allowed to leave the room.

The grunts...They had never acted _this_ protective. How could a simple piece of precious metal make such an impact? It just...It didn't add up!

"Sire, do not worry. The goddesses will attend you soon", the first grunt exclaimed, far too loud, while his eyes were glued to the ground. "We were told a meeting with Ghetsis has delayed their arrival", another one added, shortly followed by a third voice:"We can, however, send for their immediate appearance if you wish so, my Lord!" "In addition we were informed you do not have to wait for them as they'd gladly watch any movie you'd recommend."

N blinked.

What? But...The goddesses had always told him the point of film night was to, well, "spent some quality time" together. Even a prince, or rather future king, had to socialize at times. And they had gracefully ignored his argument that he was socializing with Pokémon all the time.

"Uh...I guess I'll just wait then", N murmured before slumping back into his chair, starring at a pitch black screen. "My Lord, we can send for the goddesses, if you wish. No need to wait and waste your precious time!"

N sighed. If everybody was so adamant about fulfilling his wishes, why couldn't he just skip film night? Well, he probably could. But that would disappoint Anthea and Concordia. And while he wanted to skip film night, he _really_ didn't want to disappoint them either. So instead, he simply settled for a whispered "It's fine" and closed his eyes, hoping that the four grunts would just disappear.

They did.

The four grunts bowed again and, in unison, responded with an obnoxiously loud "Yes, my Lord" before hastily making their way back to the walls.

N sat in his chair in silence, wondering what the goddesses and Ghetsis were discussing this time around. He hadn't had the chance to hold a proper conversation with them throughout those last five days and it made him feel slightly upset. They seemingly were busy whenever he was looking for them (or rather, whenever a grunt gave themselves the order to do so) and they...they had stopped visiting. He knew his lessons given by Ghetsis and the various tutors were put on halt due to his upcoming departure, but he hadn't known the same was to be applied to _their_ lessons.

Although his father had claimed they were useless, N had learned to enjoy them. Maybe because he could spent some "quality time" with the two goddesses. Maybe because learning about the relationship between humans was just so different from all the things he'd usually learn (although it made so little sense most of them time). Maybe there was no reason at all. Humans were rather irrational being after all.

Eventually, the two goddesses arrived. They moved with grace and elegance, as was to be expected of the two woman raising a king, but N didn't fail to see that their movements were just a tad hastier than usual and they seemed to be not fully at ease. The moment they caught his attention, they lowered their heads, coming to a halt in front of him and giving a courtesy.

They stayed in the position, not a single word leaving their lips and N backed away, confused. What...What were they doing?

See, this was why he believed he needed more of their lessons.

N's eyes shifted between the two woman, before settling between them and trying to ease the tension welling up inside him. This was OK. The goddesses gave courtesies to everyone, including some high ranking grunts. It had always been only a matter of time until they expanded this habit of them to greeting him. There was nothing special about it.

"So...Which film do you want to watch?", he asked reluctantly, desperately trying to dissolve the uncomfortable tension that was building in the room. "Whichever film you'd recommend", Concordia answered promptly. Then she bit her lip (Concordia _never_ bit her lip), and bowed her head just a little bit deeper, before adding:"I beg your pardon, my Lord. I talked too quickly."

N hesitated, looking at the pitch back screen in front of them, trying to erase this imagine from his mind. What had happened?

But, really, he didn't want to ask. He just wanted the situation to be over. _They_ were the ones that had told him that friends were expected to treat each other the same way, regardless of their new social standing.

"Didn't you want to watch that one new film...starring Diantha, wasn't it?", he asked while his mind still tried to put all of this into context. He didn't want to watch it. There were way too many Pokémon involved in the making of this specific film (well, there were always Pokémon involved, which was why he disliked them so much) and it was just another old, boring romance. But Anthea had practically begged him to let her watch it. Or rather, she had acted as if she had begged him. In truth she had simply decided that they were going to watch it, not that this habit was out of the ordinary. In fact, the contrary was the case.

"My Lord, this film does not seem to fit your taste. I beg you, simply disregard our choices while making yours." Her voice sounded monotone. Something N didn't really mind (things that stayed the same were easier to calculate), but it didn't seem to fit. Monotony simply didn't fit the human species.

His bewilderment seemed to be rather obvious, as Concordia spoke up once more. "My Lord, are you ill? You seem to be acting rather weird. I advi..." "You're the ones that are acting weird!", he interrupted her all of sudden, jumping to his feet as he practically recoiled from the two women that had raised him all his life. His eyes were wide with shock, his mouth agape, while he just _starred_ at the still bowing women. "You...You've never acted this way before! You...You were the ones that told me film night isn't actually about the movie!", he responded, feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation. How could all of this have taken such a...a disastrous turn? "Things have changed", Concordia simply replied, her caring eyes so full of understanding. Her answer made his throat feel dry and for a second he didn't know what he was to do. He seldom stumbled over his words and he had never had any trouble continuing a conversation. He wasn't allowed such shyness.

He was to be King of Unova after all.

But right now...all his tutoring just...it fell apart as this new world, this new _truth_ came crashing in.

Nothing was going to be the same.

He had known that, of course, but he hadn't expected this new world to look like this. He didn't _want_ it to look like this.

"It's...it's just a piece of shiny metal, formed in a way to easily carry it on one's head", he whispered, his eyes widening in shock as he sat upright again and he got a grip of himself. "It simply joins gold, element number 79, with a form of compressed carbon, element number six, to look in an aesthetically pl..."

"But it's so much more than that", Anthea interrupted him.

N couldn't miss the sadness that was present in her eyes. If they weren't happy with this situation...why didn't they just change it? Why did it feel as if his presence alone was making them unhappy? "I'm still N!", he tried, making one last stand while backing away, pushing into his seat's pillow. He was still N. The neurons connecting throughout his brain hadn't changed at all! Well, no. That wasn't fully correct. They had made lots of new connections (and probably lost even more) but all that made him Natural Gropius Harmonia, all that made him _N_ , was still there.

And no crown would ever change that.

But Concordia simply shook her head, a sad smile adorning her usual happy face. "No, my Lord. You are a king."

**.o.O.o.**

Touko couldn't really believe she was _seriously_ doing this. Her fists were clenching a Pokéball as she stared at the house in front of her.

She simply couldn't believe it.

This was stupid. _Stupid_. But then again, this entire situation was stupid, so it kind of fit.

Bianca and Touko had talked all night, trying to come up with a plan on how to get Bianca to go on her journey. It had taken them some time, but then they had finally managed to figure something out. Was it stupid? Yes. Badly organized? Well, they had talked about it for, like, two hours? So it couldn't be _that_ bad, right? Was it illegal? Well, it kind of involved stealing a Pokémon. But then again, not really, so it wasn't all that dangerous, right? More like… _trading_. Yes, trading was the most appropriate turn to describe this.

Touko had managed to catch a Lillipup at some point (yesterday, to be more precise) and was now patiently waiting for Bianca and her dad to leave Bianca's house.

Their plan was horrible. Simple and really, really horrible. It included Touko sneaking into Professor Juniper's lab and switching two Pokéballs (she had no clue on _how_ she was going to distract the professor so she'd just have to be spontaneous) and, well, good luck? After all, Bianca hadn't been confined to her room during the past four days. She had been able to leave her room, although not the house. Her dad had been so pissed, he had grounded her for the rest of summer vacation. Which, for Bianca, was supposed to be an actual vacation. Right now, she was on her way to buy school supplies and tomorrow her dad would re-enter her for the next school year. Schools were open for cancellations of the one year break until one week of the school year's start and while it had been a close call, there had still been time for Bianca's father to drag her to Accumula Town. Obviously Bianca had whined and cried about it, as was to be expected of her (after all, her parents weren't supposed to know she was going to run away) and Touko had, once again, come to the conclusion that Bianca was a pretty neat actress.

But today, today was the final day of the performance. Today, it was going to happen. Today, Bianca was saying good-bye to the town that had housed her for her entire childhood.

Touko got all nervy just by thinking about it! They were doing it! They were actually pulling thi…

No. This was no reason to celebrate. Bianca was running away from home and that wasn't something nice and…

Arceus, this was so exciting!

It was like in all those movies and then Bianca could live out in the wild and Touko would sneak her food and the Bianca would climb the building to get into Touko's PokéCenter room, so she could have the comfort of a bed once in a while and...Touko tried (and failed) to keep herself from dancing around, as she laid in wait, Ollie sitting atop of her suitcase just like always, ears perking up.

Yep. Her trainer was weird. Definitely weird.

It took Touko quite some while to cool down again (well, she never managed to clam her beating heart, but well, she was used to that by now) and she crouched beneath the bushes once more. Luckily, there were a lot of trees and cars and bushes in Nuvema Town. They made for great hiding spots.

And then, after a felt eternity, finally the door opened.

"Dad! Please! This is...This was my..."

"Cut it out, Bianca! No!"

"But da-ad! It's no bi-big deal, really! We...We can go..."

"NO!"

"I...I HATE YOU! You...I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"

And then, the sound of a slammed door could be heard throughout the entire sleepy town.

Touko's heartbeat accelerated once more.

The two friends had come up with a pretty basic plan. They'd wait 'til the last moment, after all maybe, just _maybe_ , Bianca's dad was going to change his mind. Whilst unlikely, they didn't want to leave that possibility out. Plus, this way Touko only had to hide out on Route One for two more days instead of, well, more than that.

But it had been decided that on the day before Bianca was going to register at school, they'd strike. After all, they didn't want Bianca to officially skip school. And really, Bianca didn't want to wait any longer.

So, anyway. The blonde was going to leave today and the moment she had left town, Touko would sneak into her house and grab her aready packed suitcase. Once she had stashed the suitcase away, she'd sneak into the laboratory and switch Pokéballs.

Were both of them insane? Judging from the amount of giggles that could have been heard when they had come up with that plan, yes, yes they were. But then again, they were teenagers. And starting of their adventure with an, well, adventure like this...it was exciting. Touko couldn't help but feel all jittery, waiting behind those bushes for Bianca's dad to drag her back out the door.

She had to wait for quite a bit though. Bianca really was putting on a show. Touko wished she could've been there.

But then, finally, the door opened up again and Mr. Grayson and his daughter appeared once more.

"Stop shouting!", Bianca's dad hissed, as he pulled his daughter along, who was by now sniffing. Her eyes were painted a teary red and her entire body was shaking.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!"

Bianca's voice had started to shake and again, her best friend could only sit back, impressed by the performance. Sadly, it didn't last all too long. Bianca's dad had by now opened the garage and gotten into the car, while his daughter stomped around some more and begged her mother for help, who was following the duo silently to the car, arms crossed and her face guarded like always. Almost like Cheren's, except that Cheren's face had a personality to it.

Touko didn't really like Bianca's mother.

She could...she could _understand_ Mr. Grayson – she didn't agree with him most of the time, but she respected the fact he was making a choice – but Mrs. Grayson was a whole different story.

She was so...so shallow? She never, _never_ , took a stance on _anything_. She'd always say something about about trying to agree as to avoid conflict and then she'd simply wouldn't say anything.

It was horrible. Touko wouldn't be surprised if she had married Mr. Grayson just for his last name.

But now was not the time to contemplate fitting names, as a door was slammed and an engine was started. Now, it was time to set their plan into motion.

**.o.O.o.**

A wide grin spread across N's face as the Woobat gleefully caught the stuffed animal he threw at it. It wasn't often that he managed to sneak a Pokémon into the castle (outside from Zorua that was, but really, Zorua had simply threatened to attack Ghetsis at some point), as his father disliked the idea of him being around wild Pokémon.

They were already happy. N didn't need to help them anymore, right? He had to help all those, that were hurt. Hurt and caught. Hurt and caught and bloody and helpless.

Some things were better left unsaid.

So, no wild Pokémon it was. Only tortured and maimed and dead ones.

Officially at the very least.

Today a Woobat had made its way into his room. Through wide open windows. And probably following the smell of some delicacies. Which N might just had put there purposefully. No one would ever truly know.

The Woobat threw the stuffed animal back and N caught it with no trouble at all. It was a simple activity, really, But it was fun. In fact, N greatly liked throwing things around. He had begged his father for basketball equipment for that specific reason. Maybe it was because of the great display of gravity. Maybe it was just one of his so very human character traits.

It didn't really matter.

He threw the animal back. They continued for quite some time and...N felt himself relaxing. After everything that had happened so far, he enjoyed this time of silence.  
 _Calm_ silence that was. And he almost forgot the images that haunted his thoughts day and night.

It didn't take long for that silence to disappear though, replaced by a more upbeat atmosphere. It all started with Woobat asking if his friends could show up. And, of course, N couldn't deny such a request.

An hour later, N lay on bed, exhausted, but with a smile on his lips.

Some things would never _not_ be fun. And spending time with a bunch of Woobata, that were so friendly as to tell him more of this somewhat mysterious world outside the castle, would never be boring. Although, their descriptions sure sounded a lot more peaceful that what he had expected.

Well. It was Victory Road after all. There weren't too many humans out here. Just peaceful, happy Pokémon.

Could there be a better place for anyone to be?

**.o.O.o.**

Sneaking into the laboratory was laughable easy. Professor Juniper didn't really have any security measurements. They were only living in a small village after all and breaking into her laboratory simply wasn't worth it. There wasn't any expensive equipment laying around and the few rare Pokémon that lived there knew who to trust and who not. And due to them already having been caught they couldn't be caught a second time.

So really, all you had to do to get inside was to be known around the village and to not look suspicious.

Touko could tick that first box with no trouble at all.

The second - not so much.

She had donned a big hat and an equally big pair of sunglasses to shield her face from getting recognized. Except that everyone obviously still recognized her. There weren't many brunette's her age living in the village and she still spotted her usual look of a hastily picked out white t-shirt, some denim shorts and her trademark black vest. Plus, there was an Oshawott following her. She could have recalled Ollie into her Pokéball, but Ollie seemed to prefer being outside and Touko preferred her to be outside too.

It kept her from squealing like a five year old getting a bunch of gifts from their grandparents while being high on sugar.

In conclusion, Touko looked highly suspicious. But there wasn't really anyone around to observe her, so it didn't matter, right? (The ones that were simply chuckled amused at the incredible display of how _not_ to be sneaky).

After checking her surroundings, Touko tiptoed her way into the lab, praising Professor Juniper's dad for oiling those doors on a regular basis. She sneaked past the entrance to Professor Juniper's apartment, carefully evading all the tiles that squeaked.

She forgot to instruct Ollie though, so, that too, didn't matter, as the Water-Pokémon seemingly had a hidden talent for finding those exact spots. The squeaking sounded a thousand times louder in Touko's head, but nobody else seemed to hear it. Plus, Ollie seemed to apologize every time she made a sound, so really, Touko couldn't be angry.

She jumped every time she heard it though.

They made it to the desk holding Bianca's Oinky with no trouble whatsoever and Ollie jumped onto the table, curiously inspecting the Pokéball, as if this was the most normal thing to do in the entire world.

Poor Fireball. He had been the most excited about all of this. Luckily her trainer wanted to free him, so he could go out and live his dreams! Thinking about it, even Ollie got a bit excited. They would have some fun, right? The last few days had been fun and she had even learned a new attack! She couldn't wait to blast her friends with it!

While Ollie was happy to see her friend again, Touko was...jumpy. Scared. Excited. There was no one around, right? And this was the right Pokémon, right? She wasn't making a mistake?

At first Touko's hand moved carefully, but then she decided drop that act and instead quickly snatched the second Pokéball from her bag and held it out in front of her. Then she snatched the one waiting, on the desk and…

Then she stopped. Her eyes were glued to the Pokéball in her right hand, holding a Lillipup.

_Her_ Lillipup.

Touko bit her lip. Then she glanced at Oinky's Pokéball and back. Her determination sank. This...Somehow, she just...

She couldn't.

She couldn't. She simply wasn't able to put the Lillipup onto the table.

Nervously, Ollie looked at her trainer. What was going on? She felt distress, a bad consciousness and...helplessness. It felt weird, coming from her trainer. And it greatly affected her.

Frightened, Ollie started to run around. What was going on, what was going on, what was…Until Touko finally put a Pokéball on the desk. And then she left, not even calling out for her starter to join her. She simply stormed out of the lab, not thinking of anything else but _leaving_. She had to get out of here.

She felt sick. Sick to the stomach.

And not even a calling Professor Juniper could hold her back, as she stumbled away, a confused Ollie following her.

It was only when her starter fell, that Touko stopped.

Immediately, Touko came rushing towards the Water-Pokémon that had started crying again. What was wrong, what had happened, was she ok? Touko checked her, and although she felt herself panicking, tried to keep a cool demeanor. Her mother had told her Pokémon felt things different than humans did and that panicking would only make things worse.

So Touko tired. She tried and tried and tried and it all seemed to be better and Touko even managed to apologize.

"Hey, Ollie", she whispered softly, sitting on the floor and holding her starter in her arms."Hey...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But...I failed..."

Touko couldn't believe she was saying it like that.

But she had failed.

Bianca was going to leave her family this night. But for what, if she didn't have a Pokémon?

**.o.O.o.**

Touko tried again two hours later. The sun was already turning red and the brunette knew she didn't have much time left. So she tried again. She had to.

She circled around the laboratory for quite some time, clutching the Pokéball, before she finally managed to enter. It was the right thing to do. It wasn't like that Lillipup would feel bad. Technically speaking, Touko had ripped it from he... _its_ habitat and they hadn't had any interaction as of yet.

Thinking about it, Touko felt bad for having left her, A _rceus damn it!_ , in its ball for a whole day. But, if she had trained her, it, _it, t_ here wouldn't have been any turning back.  
Plus, she needed to get used to leaving Pokémon behind. She planed to change her team several times throughout her journey after all.

So, Touko entered the lab (though less determined than before). She sneaked through empty, dark rooms. She made her way to the desk. And then she hastily hid behind one of the many pieces of furniture scattered around the main hall. Had she noticed something, heard..."Touko, I saw you", Professor Juniper's voice echoed through the room. Oh. And then Professor Juniper added:"Don't worry, will you? Now, come, please. I even brought cookies along!" The older woman was leading against the desk, surprised that it had taken the girl so long to retry rescuing her best friends Pokémon. Honestly, Professor Juniper had been surprised it took them this long to even try. She had expected the Tepig to be gone the day after Bianca's dad had handed it over again.

Oh well, they probably had had their reasons.

While Touko really liked cookies, this wouldn't have made her leave her hiding spot. Ollie, on the other hand, didn't know what exactly they were doing and was addicted to sweets. And given to her by the woman she secretly viewed as her mom? By all the shells in the sea, here she came! So really, there weren't any other options left and Touko, hesitantly, followed her starter. She didn't dare to look up and her cap was shoved all the way down, so no one could see her eyes.

"Come!", Professor Juniper said, her voice way to happy for Touko's current mood. She should have just put that stupid Pokéball down and then left. What was she going to tell Bianca? Touko gulped just thinking about her best friend's disappointment. She wanted Bianca to go on her journey, but she had already managed to ruin it.

"Here", the woman added. Touko didn't look up as she took what was supposedly a cookie.

It wasn't a cookie. Instead of dry dough, Touko felt the warm surface of a polished Pokéball that pulsated with life and bound energy.

Touko's head shot up and disbelieving eyes starred at the Pokéball, held against he fingers. "What..?", she whispered and her gaze found its way to a smiling Professor Juniper. What was she doing… "Why?", Touko croaked, while Ollie stopped gnawing at her cookie and her ears perked up, watching the two human. At least _her_ human seemed to feel better, all of sudden.

It was probably the cookie's fault.

"Why I would help you? Well, I want a complete PokéDex and something tells me neither you nor Cheren are going to be all that focused on completing it." Touko's bad consciousness was visible on her face and Professor Juniper laughed, throwing her head back in the process. It was a miracle her messy bun didn't fall apart. "It's fine, Touko", Professor Juniper said once her laughter had died away, pressing the Pokéball into Touko's hand. "Just make sure Bianca receives it, ok?"

Green eyes sparkled warmly and sheepishly, Touko's finger's wrapped around the Pokéball.

"Give Bianca all my best wishes, alright?", Professor Juniper asked and Touko simply nodded, before running out of the laboratory.

This time she made sure nothing bad happened to Ollie.

**.o.O.o.**

Touko let the Lillipup out of her, _its_ , ball. It looked, well, normal. Obviously.

What wasn't normal was how it kept jumping around, barking happily and sniffing the air. Just ten seconds after having left the ball she had already prompted Ollie to play with her. Something told Touko it probably had a jolly nature. Or an impish or bold one. A check later and jolly it was. Well, having less Special attack on a Lillipup wasn't too bad. Especially not when they were young. And a bit extra speed could come in handy. Touko wasn't one to complain about it. So instead, she sat down in the grass, watching her two Pokémon play, wondering a bit about the future of her team. The two of them seemed to get along just fine and...It got her worried.

This Lillipup...It was supposed to be in Professor Juniper's lab. It wasn't supposed to sit here, right next to her.

She _had_ wanted to catch one, but it was on the next Route! And...if she couldn't let go of h... _it_ a few days after she had caught it, how was she supposed to let it go after beating a gym? There was no place for a Bisbark on her team!

"Why is Trainer so sad?", the Lillipup inquired, curious eyes looking at her new trainer. The girl looked nice, the Lillipup decided. Nice and sad. Maybe, if they played she would fell better?

Ollie simply shook her head. She liked this Lillipup. Surely, the three of them could become best friends, right? They could become that one team her trainer had wanted so badly!

"I don't want her to be sad. I want her to be happy! I want to become best friends with her! I always wanted to travel with a human!", the Lillipup mused, before turning around again. "But they need time, don't they? Let's play! Let's play and train! Let's be a team!"

**.o.O.o.**

It was dark outside, when Touko reentered Nuvema Town and looked around for the spare key to Bianca's house. In one of the...Aha!

Touko wore only black and she had even gotten Ollie a black coat, but the Water-Pokémon refused to wear it. Well, Touko couldn't change her opinion. So, there was a blue spot trailing behind her, but really, she was so small, no one would ever notice her!

The door to Bianca's house squeaked when Touko opened it and for a moment, the girl halted, looking around. Had someone...Was someone...No. Nothing. The house stayed dark.

It was relieving to know that Bianca's dad was a heavy sleeper. And knowing her mom, even if she were to wake up nothing substantial would happen.

Lucky them, because Bianca's mother was indeed awake and up and was currently sitting on the couch, her daughter next to her.

"I see, you have arrived", was all that she said upon noticing the brunette's steps. Touko froze. Oh no. They had been foun…

"It's fine, Touko!", whispered Bianca. The Blonde got up, her feet carrying her to her best friend, a sheepish smile on her face.

"It's...Well...Don't worry about it, ok? My...my mom...Let's just go. I want to get out of here." And that was all that Bianca said.

There wasn't anything going on, really. No excited giggling. No tears. Just...Just a bad feeling. A feeling that something was final. The feeling, that this wasn't quite what they had imagined, but it was better than nothing. Suddenly, Touko felt stupid, wearing those black clothes and clutching a young Pokémon's Pokéball, to use it in battle against _someone_ without ever having _talked_ to it before.

The brunette sighed and faced the door again.

Her friend was already waiting outside, a satchel around her shoulders including some things Touko couldn't have picked up earlier. Of course they wouldn't need a lot of time to depart. After all, Bianca had prepared for this in advance.

It was Mrs. Grayson that managed to interrupt Touko's sudden feeling of emptiness.

"Thank you for getting Bianca's Tepig. She was heartbroken when her father took it from her", the woman said. She even smiled. For a second that was but it had been longer than Touko had ever seen that woman smile before.

The teenager didn't really know what to say.

Was she serious? She was helping her daughter run _away_. Couldn't that woman just express any kind of emotion at some point in her life?!

"Why are you helping us?" Touko crossed her arms, annoyed that she had to ask that question a second time. If it weren't for the help of everybody else, they would have probably failed and that irked her immensely.

"I think this journey is going to help Bianca grow."

It was this comment, that infuriated Touko all of sudden. She _thought_ it was going to be _helpful_?! Where? Where had that opinion been this afternoon? Where had that opinion been all those times when Bianca could have actually made _use_ of her stupid opinion?! Why...Why did this woman need to be so damn passive?!

"If you want her to take that journey", Touko asked, feeling herself getting angry:"Then why didn't you help her? Why didn't you tell your husband to let her go?!"

"She needs to take that decision herself, Touko. If I had stepped in she wouldn't have gained a thing. Sometimes, you need to confront your own problems on your own. It's part of growing up."

"But you could have chosen a side!", Touko hissed, feeling how anger built up inside her. Ollie shifted uncomfortably at her feet. Why was her trainer so angry all of sudden?

"You...You just stood by! You didn't do anything! You didn't stay on the middle ground, you didn't stay on _any_ ground!", Touko accused Bianca's mother. "You simply didn't do _anything_!"

"Touko!", Bianca called from the outside:"Come on!"

But Touko wasn't finished yet. Her eyes were burning with sparks and she couldn't help but feel insulted at the woman's passiveness. But at least she answered. Except that her answer was even more infuriating.

"You have my opinion and I have mine, Touko. There's nothing wrong with that."

"You see?! You do it again, just..."

"Touko!", now it was Bianca's turn to show up next to her friend:"We need to go." The Blonde didn't dare to look into her mother's eyes. She was leaving. She was finally leaving. And the first thing she felt was bad.

Well, and excited, there was definitely a lot of excitement mixed in.

For a moment, Mrs. Grayson observed the furious girl in front of her. Then she shook her head. "I wish the two of you the best of luck on your journey. And, I really hope you'll learn one thing or another." Then she faced her daughter, a sad smile adorning her usually so impassive face:"I will miss you, darling. Be careful, will you?" Her eyes were tearing up and then she hugged her daughter, before quickly letting go.

"Have fun. And, try not to mess with terrorist organizations, will you?" Bianca nodded, holding back tears. Then the silence followed.

Everybody knew what was to happen next.

But no one made the first move for quite some time.

It was Touko who decided, this was enough. "We need to go, Bianca", she whispered and tugged her friends jacket. Bianca simply nodded again and then, slowly turned away from her mother.

"I'll miss you mom."

"I'll miss you too."

Bianca camped out with Touko for the rest of the night, before getting up early in the morning and making her way to Accumula town. They had said their goodbyes and had promised to regularly update each other on each of their progress. And then, life went back to...could she really call it normal?

**.o.O.o.**

The last two days of Touko's testing phase passed in a rush. Touko had done her best to evade any possible questioning by Bianca's dad or, worse, her mother, and had simply turned of her VisoCaster. She had even "forgotten" her charger at home, just so her pretending it had simply ran out of power was believable. She had stayed to the more overgrown parts of the Route, trying her best to not be seen by any other human soul which, well, she managed to pull of.

Though, it was mainly because there wasn't any other human soul traversing the Route as far as she knew.

In the meantime, Touko trained. Mostly Ollie. She tried not to think of the Lillipup. During the time they spent on the Route Ollie had got significantly stronger and while she had not learned any new move (her starter had already learned Water Gun just a bit earlier)Touko was proud of their progress. They even got used to each other. It had taken some time, sure, but Ollie seemed to be a bit less terrified now.

Plus, she stopped waking up in the middle of the night, as she had done on the second and third day. So that was that.

Touko's new Lillipup was a whole different story. She had planed on getting one, of course, as she needed a second Pokémon to beat the gym, but, well…

It liked her. A lot. And Touko knew that she'd have to let go of it eventually. In fact, she was planning to let it go after beating the first gym. And Touko wasn't too sure if she'd be able to pull that of if the small Pokémon kept being so affectionate.

Touko had to though. And to make it easier, Touko simply limited the amount of time she spent with her newest team member until she had figured something out. Some way for her to deal with the plans that she had carefully mapped out throughout her teenage years.

And thus, she spent her time training and thinking, and mostly sitting around and playing with Oshawott. How did one properly train their Pokémon? Of course, Touko new of various exercises, but how did one find a balance? She couldn't make her team exercise everyday. She couldn't just make them battle all day long.

Well, she'd have to find out herself.

Touko tried to do just that during those two days, however, eventually, she had needed to turn back to civilization. She needed to say one last goodbye to her mom. She needed to get her charger.

And she was definitely going to stack up on snacks while she was at home.

But most importantly, she had to face her mom's anger.

Rather reluctantly, Touko dragged herself back home, Ollie sitting on top of her suitcase and wondering what her trainer's sadness was all about. Oh well, it didn't matter. She wasn't all that bad and the past few days had been fun!

They, Touko and Ollie (and the Lillipup) got home. They ate dinner. They avoided Touko's mother's eyes 8well, Touko did. Ollie didn't). Touko started packing her things (her mom had already told her she was going to kick her out tonight and no, she was not going to sleep at home). They tried to ignore thee awkwardness. It had been a though evening and Touko hadn't really known what she was supposed to make out of her mother's silence.

She didn't say a _thing_.

Well, yes, she said some things. She amde polite conversation of course. But, nothing related to Bianca. She didn't even _mention_ her friend. Several times Touko was on the verge of asking if she had heard anything or something similar, but she had always stopped herself. What if her mom simply didn't know? Then she was getting herself into avoidable trouble. Trouble she really couldn't afford. After all, she was leaving for good tomorrow morning. And if she wanted some of those snacks, she'd better behave.

So she did. She tried her best to make friendly conversation. She showed her mom her new caught Pokémon. She even admitted that, yes, she had already gone against what she had originally planned.

It happened, ok!

Her mom didn't seem to mind all that much though, so, well…They just kinda...Nothing happened. It felt so anticlimactic.

But then again, she should be happy. So she was.

Well, _tried to_. It didn't necessarily work out all that well.

But she said her goodbyes. She checked her baggage one last time. And it was only, when she had almost closed the door that her mom said _anything_ about it. "Greet Bianca, will you? And tell her that her mom misses her."

Touko...Touko didn't really understand. So, she just starred at her mom, her eyes blinking and a blank "Will do" being the only response she could muster.

And than she turned and left.

Another time. On a different day.

Things sure had changed, hadn't they?

**.o.O.o.**

N had answered his father's summon immediately. He knew his father didn't like to wait and even though N was now King, it...well. He was just the King of Team Plasma. He had yet to achieve their final goal.

One they'd achieve so very soon.

His father was waiting in his study for him, which meant he was finally free from his guards. There were two rooms in the entire castle that weren't guarded. N's room and his father's study.

Maybe those were the only reasons N actually liked both rooms.

N knocked exactly three times before patiently waiting outside. He hardly managed to oppress his desire to fiddle at his clothes, his hand instead moving to the golden cube dangling from his wrist. What did father want from him, was it because of the journey, would he get any new instructions, was….

"Enter", a strict voice interrupted N's thoughts. The boy cleared his throat and a grunt opened the room for him. And then he entered.

His father sat behind his desk, idly writing something down. N didn't dare to ask what it was. In fact, he didn't dare to take any steps toward his father. He had misbehaved in this study before and he was not going to do it another time.

"You took your time", Ghetsis said, not looking up from whatever he was writing down.

"I apologize, father", N murmured, an action which resulted in Ghetsis' one, red eye to shoot up and stare at his adopted son.

He got up. The chair screeched on the floor and N felt himself get more and more nervous.

"How often...", his father asked, slowly making his way around the table, his eye not once leaving his son's frame. N's heart started to beat faster. "How often do I have to remind you", he repeated, before halting directly in front of his son:"to speak _loud_ and _clearly_?!" His voice...it was hissed.

"I apologize, father!" N's voice was shaking, but it was loud and clear. Still, he expected to be slapped.

Nothing happened though. Ghetsis simply snorted and turned away, stating:"Stop you voice's shaking. Such behaviour is not befitting of a king." "Yes, father!" He tried to keep his voice from shaking and, as Ghetsis simply huffed, he assumed he had calmed his voice well enough.

His father positioned himself in front of the window overseeing the cave (soon, soon it would be a gorgeous garden, filled with guards!) and gestured for his son to join him. Swiftly, N followed the unspoken order, trying to hold his posture. Something Ghetsis seemed to have noticed. "Your posture improved, I see. What pleasant news." It wasn't much of a compliment really, but N took to it nonetheless. His face lit up at those rare words and he tried even harder. He missed the conceited smile his father couldn't hide.

Praise was just one of many ways to rule.

"You are to go on your very own journey soon. You are of aware of the consequences?"

"Yes, father."

Of course he was. He had been trained for this throughout his life after all.

"Are you going to choose a Pokémon?", Ghetsis asked, already knowing his son's answer. The sage couldn't help but feel somewhat...proud.

"No, father." N shook his head, starring outside.

"I'd be a hypocrite if I did."

He wondered what all of this was about. He _knew_ this. Ghetsis _knew_ he knew all of this. His father was not a man known to waste his precious time, luckily for them, as he was a vital part of Team Plasma. And while N did not particularly dislike Ghetsis' presence (he was his father after all), he couldn't shake the feeling of discomfort either. Not in a tense situation like this anyway.

"You are aware you have to take on the gym challenge?"

"Yes, father."

Ghetsis shifted in his robes. He cleared his throat. And then he finally faced N, a somewhat...worried? Expression starring down a confused boy that was supposed to be grown up by now.

"I...I worry, Natural. I have never told you this, but...humans…no, human _society_ is...it's not what it seems like."

"I know, father", N interrupted him, just to bite his lip directly after and then stop doing that, because such behaviour was not fit for his standing anymore. Well, it had never been. Maybe, while he had still been out in the wild it had been. Had he already been a chosen hero back then?

Ghetsis' harsh stare was enough punishment for N. He almost flinched at the mere sight of it. But this time, the sage did not follow up with his eyes' promise.

" _Don't_ ever interrupt me, _Natural_ ", he simply hissed, before returning to starring out of the window. It took him some while to speak once more.

"Humans...You won't see it. The murder. The torture. The maiming. You will not see all that is wrong with society. It will be a promise of shine and glory and everybody agrees to hide all that is dark. But, Natural, never forget...You've seen his truth. You _know_ you're right."

He turned to N once more, his lips pressed together, his voice now merely a whisper:"Don't you?"

"Yes, father."

N coldn't help but let sadness flood his mind. He knew of all of this. Of the deceit and lies and manipulation.

"Don't let yourself get distracted. Carry on, no matter what, no matter what you see, no matter what they tell. You _know_ you are right. You have been chosen by the White One. You have been chosen by truth. Don't get distracted. Complete the gym challenge. We need you to be the chosen Hero and we need you to be the Champ. Don't ever forget that. And don't spend a second of your precious time on anything else than achieving this."

**.o.O.o.**

Touko stood there, clutching Ollie's PokéBall.

One step. One step and the world would finally have opened up to her, with all its wonders and adventures.

Ollie was still sitting on top of Touko's suitcase, wondering what all the fuzz was about and – more importantly – why her trainer was clutching that weird ball. But she didn't make a sound. The feelings her trainer was sending out were too...turbulent.

One step. One single step.

And without any further hesitation, Touko took it, finally standing in Nuvema Town once again. The sun wasn't setting, not just yet. No thunder came crashing down. No magical being appeared out of thin air, calling for her help and inviting her to an adventure like never seen before. In fact, it was a rather ordinary day and some of the townsfolk send that strange girl a few suspicious glances. What exactly was she doing? Why was she standing there? God, new trainers were _obnoxious_.

Well, Touko either didn't notice or didn't care, as she took in the view. It could have been more grand, she thought to herself and she turned to the Route that lay behind her. She felt like she had never know a place better than that. After all, she had spent an entire week just exploring it. One day, she'd come back and surf down the stream to see more of what laid ahead. But not now.

"It's already been a week, huh?", she said, more to herself than anything (and maybe to Ollie), before turning to the confused (but somewhat fuzzy) feeling Water-Pokémon.

She squatted down, so they were on the same height, a promising smile on her lips and eyes brimming with excitement. Then she offered a promise that Ollie would never, ever forget.

"I like you Ollie. I'm...I'm glad I chose you as a starter. And that you accepted me of course. And, although things have been rough sometimes...It has been a fabulous first week. And I hereby promise...We'll be the goddamn best team in the entire history of teams! I'll never, ever let you go, I swear!"

It was a promise, that would was meant to never be broken. And Touko didn't break her promises.

She extended her fist once more, just like she had done when she had first received her starter. Her smile grew, as she saw the fragile Pokémon's eyes lit up with excitement as well and it even called out in happiness, before fistbumping her, this time lacking the hesitation it had done before.

They were a team. And they even already had a new member!

And remembering the team's newest member made the magical moment disappear.

"Well then", Touko murmured, before hastily getting up. She stopped clutching the PokéBall in her hand and made her way to the PokémonCenter to heal Ollie and show it around, the comforting "Krrrrrrrrrrrrr" of her suitcase lighting up this small world of the unknown. Just in time too, because it had started to drizzle again and dark, ominous clouds started to loom above the small town, just like they had done a week ago.

There was no way for her to know of the heatwave, that was cloaking Stration City.

**.o.O.o.**

It had been quite some time for N to leave the castle.

To _truly_ leave it.

The sage's hadn't been to fond of him traveling too much, so he had ever only really been to the castle's outskirts and on rare occassions he had been allowed to venture through Victory Road. It had been hard when he had first started out, thchange so different to what he had been used to, but it had been worth it.

N enjoyed the fresh air outside, so different from the stuffy atmosphere he had grown to accept within the castle walls. A small smile lit up his face as he realized that from now on, _this_ would be his home.

He couldn't help but fell excited, however he tried his best to hide it. No jumping, no trembling, no nervous gestures. He couldn't give away his feelings. A royal never did.

N didn't know if he succeeded, but if he did, no one spoke a word, as they made their way to the airport. Not Ghetsis, not the sages, not Anthea and Concordia and not the grunts that served as their entourage.

They made their way to the gate. They boarded the plane. They flew to Unova's South.

N wished Zoruo could have come along, but the small Fox-Pokémon was terrified of flying and had thus swiftly refused the offer. He had promised to search N out on his journey though, so they'd probably meet up at some point. N was looking forward to the meeting. Everyone needed someone trusted to talk to and while he enjoyed the presence of Pokémon, they did indeed not become his lifelong friends from the moment he met them. N couldn't stay anywhere for too long and therefore, would only keep the Pokémon for as long as it took to defeat the local gym. He was to complete the gym challenge after all. And, as much as he despised this, he needed all eight badges for them to finally make his dream come true.

N couldn't help but grimace at this irony. He had to enslave Pokémon to free them. Such a cynical world.

Eventually, the plane arrived. The group of Plasma members set out, making their way to the hotel they were going to stay at. Rood had arranged for everything.

The sun was setting by now, painting the world a gorgeous gold and it just seemed to shine a bit more radiant than it used to. Maybe that explained the sudden heat which made the grunts sweat in their uniforms.

A glazing Plasmaball and today it was giving them it's greatest performance.

N didn't look back once he left the plane. He hadn't looked back either once they left the castle. None of that mattered anymore.

But now it was time to escape the heat, and thus the group of people hurried to check into the Hotel.

No one spotted the clouds not too far away, drowning Accumula Town in rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm fully aware of the fact that Reshiram doesn't have anything to do with the sun, but I couldn't have Touko get a thunderstorm and N a heatwave. So, here you go. The sun is a plasma ball anyway.
> 
> Other than that, here is yet another chapter (Only two more chapters until the first meeting!) which I hope you guys enjoyed ^^ Thank you to whoever gave this story a kudos - they are very welcome ^^
> 
> If you enjoyed the story, please consider leaving a comment, because I'd love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> Until next time - Bluestpaw


	4. Tea green and maybe some chestnut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first city N ever visited in his entire life was Striaton Town.
> 
> And he hated it.
> 
> -
> 
> "What's going on?", Touko asked one of the bystanders (one of those that she hadn't pushed away earlier, or so she hoped), her voice barely a whisper. The way that old man looked...She felt as if she wasn't allowed to raise her voice in his presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This fanfiction was inpired by maydei's amazing oneshot "The truth will prevail" (https://archiveofourown.org/works/621712). If you like this story, you should check that one, because it's definitely better ^^

Too Little Colours  
Chapter 4  
Tea Green and maybe some Chestnut.

* * *

The first thing Touko did after having set foot into Accumula Town was checking out the local PokéCenter. She really wanted a room and her rash action was justified once she found out she'd have to wait for three days to get a room. Accumula Town wasn't a very big city and therefore its PokéCenter was rather small - and there was only one. Having to camp out for another three days wasn't what Touko had hoped for, but she wouldn't complain. After all she had already done so for an entire week and survived. And she had even learned to try and sweep the floor before setting up a tent.

Bless the first night she had spent outside.

During the three days of being room-less, Touko decided she'd look around the city (for no reason other than smugly greeting her former classmates) and search for a trainer willing to battle her. She had already got a second Pokémon (kind of at least) and she had already some experience battling wild Pokémon (wild Lillipup's that was) and thus, now it was time for a real trainer battle. Something to show her the ropes before she moved on and challenged the first gym. And a battle before she took on Cheren and beat him into the ground because Arceus knew she had to get some experience in. But no matter how long she looked, she simply couldn't find any other trainers. Not even someone that was way out of her league (rumors said one could sometimes convince veteran trainers to battle one with their weaker Pokémon if you just begged long enough.) But no. Not a single trainer soul was to be found lingering around. Most had already started their journey earlier or they had simply skipped Accumula Town.

Touko planned to stay half a week before making her way to Striaton City. Trainers were supposed to take roughly three weeks to gain their first badge (provided they took on the Trio gym first) and Touko had already spent one week on Route One. She planned on training on Route 2 for a bit before actually taking on the real traveling, so she'd even have enough time to have her first ever stay in a PokéCenter right here.

It was exciting, to say the least.

The distance from Accumula Town to Striaton City was roughly 30 kilometer and it took some time to get there. The official league website advised to plan a week for this distance, simply because at this point Pokémon (and trainers, for some reason) where still rather weak and one had to be careful. After all, no one wanted to overdo things this early. After one week, Touko would have three more days to get ready before taking on the gym. She should be able to win after a second try. One first battle to scout what was going on and then a second one to actually win.

So much in theory. Now all she had to do was adhere to her plans.

It all started with her calling Cheren and Bianca and asking if they were still around. Bianca wasn't and she didn't necessarily want to backtrack as she was afraid her parents might find her. Luckily, Bianca's mother had ensured her Trainer ID stayed activated so no living out in the woods was necessary, but who knew what would happen if Bianca's dad caught up to her.

Cheren, however, had been willing to come back. In four days that was. He hadn't specified why it would take him this long, but Touko wasn't one to complain about that. At least he wanted to meet up with her although she was lagging behind. Touko greatly appreciated the effort.

So for now she stayed in Accumula Town. At first she had trained on Route 1, feeling too intimidated by Route 2 (obviously because of the strong trainers. Not because she missed her mom or anything. _That'd_ be ridiculous) until she had finally allowed herself to move on.

It was her third day in Accumula Town and her second day on Route 2 when things got a bit more interesting (not that it was ever not interesting - it was her journey after all!). She had dared to enter the Route on the second day already, but just during the evening and now - now she planned on actually training instead of just quickly scouting the area.

So, without further ado, Touko started training with Ollie and Lil. Lillipup. She started training her Lillipup. Not Lil. She had _not_ given her a nickname.

Everything had gone according to plan so far. Her team had made great progress (although Ollie some more, because Touko was too scared to train Lil, _Arceus dammit!_ ).

Ollie had learned Water Sport and Touko's Lillipup had figured out how to put that nose of hers to good use. Sadly, Odor Sleuth was going to be rather useless throughout Touko's journey (although she had to admit, the Dog Pokémon looked rather cute when sniffing around and exploring her surroundings) - but it was something. It made Touko feel less guilty about the fact that _Lillipup_ didn't get as much attention as Ollie did. After all, she grew stronger too, right?

It was a challenge though. Especially because Ollie wasn't too happy with Lil being in her ball for most of the day. They had become quite close friends throughout the short period of time they had spent together and her _Lilipup_ seemed to grow sadder and sadder everytime Touko recalled it.

It shattered the young trainer's heart. Why was training a Pokémon so emotionally taxing?!

It was a situation like this when a familiar ringtone ripped her away from dark and hopeless thoughts and Touko had rushed to pick up her VisoCaster. The girl had welcomed her mother's call and had eagerly pressed "accept". She was met with a red face and a panting Celine.

"Hey, Touko...Heh...heh...Where are…are you?"

"Uh...", the brunette replied, visibly confused,"Route 2. I'm currently training...Why? Wh...What are you doing?!"

Touko frowned, not quite getting the full picture until she figured out why her mum was panting. "Mom, are you jogging to Accumula Town?", she inquired, sounding annoyed. Why did her mom have to show up, it was like, what, two days since they had last seen each other? Come one, she wasn't a baby!

But really, she was glad Celine was checking up on her. Though she'd obviously never say that out loud.

"Don't move! I'm there in a second!", was the only answer Touko got before her mother hung up and left her daughter alone to contemplate what to do next. She didn't contemplate for long because Touko decided it was noon already and they could all use a break. She thought about starting her lunch now, but then she realized (maybe she was hoping for too much) that he mom might bring food.

So she decided to wait.

Her mother showed up shortly after, maybe ten minutes or so, still panting and her face looking like a cheri berry.

It was hilarious.

Sadly, her mom didn't bring any lunch but instead something Touko most definitely _didn't_ want to see ever again in the entirety of her life. "You forgot these", her mum stated before sitting down next to her daughter in the grass and houlding out a plastic bag containing a certain piece of clothing Touko _despised_. Her old trainers. God, why did he mum notice _those_ things laying around?

"You should take them along, Touko", her mother added, guessing her daughter's thoughts (which wasn't difficult as her expression immediately darkened upon recognizing the dreaded package),"They'll come in quite helpful on your journey, believe me!" _Of course_ they would come in handy. Touko already knew that. It didn't mean she wanted to wear them though.

If Touko had known what spending more time with her mom meant, she would have probably taken those stupid trainers and ran away with them. But Touko was, deep down, kind of scared with all that was ahead and decided to use this time without raising any annoying questions like "Oh, so you do miss me?" and other dangerous ideas her mother might get. Sadly, her mother got dangerous thoughts nonetheless. It all started with a simple question.

"Oh, by the way, did you already call your dad?"

For a few moments Touko resorted to staring at her nails. Then she glanced at Ollie, idly playing in the grass before clapping her hands and exclaiming loudly (and with a rather high-pitched voice):"Lets have lunch!" Without hesitating another second Touko reached for her suitcase, pulling out some food.

"What do you want?", she asked, without as much as glancing at her mother sitting next to her, an unsurprised expression on her face.

She should have known. There was no way her daughter would ever voluntarily call her dad. To Touko what he did was wrong. Simply put and there was no way he had any right to "abandon" her the way he had done.

In Touko's mind that was.

Her mother had her own interpretation.

Ollie's ears perked up once she heard the magical world "food". Her trainer wasn't really sending out any signals connecting to lunchtime, but the Oshawott had accompanied the girl for long enough to have picked up some words. The most important ones that was. And food was _definitely_ an important one.

Also, there was this nice woman from earlier that had fed Ollie some berries, so how could she _not_ come closer?

Quickly the Water-Pokémon shuffled to her trainer, her big eyes begging for some berries, her hands neatly folded and her lip trembling. Touko snorted seeing her starter like this (it had almost become somewhat of a routine by now) and conjured a (Pokémon friendly) chocolate bar. An elderly woman had gifted it to her once she had seen Touko camp out in the area of her house. She had even invited the girl inside for tea, but although such gestures were common especially when it came to new trainers, Touko had been crept out a bit _too_ much by that.

There were a bunch of real-life horror stories on the internet that told the tale of less fortunate souls that had never left such houses ever again.

"What do you want to eat, mum?", Touko repeated as her mother had failed to answer the first time. "Oh, don't worry about me. I already ate before lunch", Celine finally replied, after starring at her daughter for way too long and thinking of a way to make her dial her father's number. Touko frowned. "Isn't it bad to eat just before going jogging?", she asked innocently and finally looked at her mother, a package filled with two sandwiches in her hand and a package of Pokémon food in the other.

She had ditched the Human-Pokémon Instant Noddles. The payoff, if there was any, simply wasn't worth the horrendous taste.

"Oh, well, it was more like a late breakfast. You know, now that I don't have overly excited daughters running around the house at 8am I can finally sleep in again..."

Celine grinned as she saw a blush forming on Touko's face and she even chuckled. Being self-employed and finally having kicked out your only child sure had its perks. She almost leaned back, letting her head rest in the grass (after all, she had just jogged roughly five kilometer), but then a simply motion of her daughter made her stop.

Touko grabbed a second Poké , Celine remembered. She had already caught a Lillipup.

"Is she hurt?", Celine asked curiously, prying eyes starring at the Pokéball. Touko simply shrugged and continued to unpack everyone's lunch."No. Why?" Immediately her mother sat up upright again, this time a more worried expression on her face. "Then why isn't she out and about like Oshawott?"

It was this question that made Touko freeze once more and slowly, her gaze fell to the second Pokéball, warm to the touch. A bad consciousness made its way into her thoughts.

Maybe she should have just called her dad.

"Letting your Pokémon out of their Pokéball is a great way to strengthen your bond, Professor Elm has shown that beautifully in his years of research. And if one Pokémon is allowed to spend their time outside, so should every other member of the team too", Celine continued, oblivious of her daughter's evident discomfort,"Or else the inequality will lead to plenty of discontent within your team. And trust me, you'll want to prevent infighting. It's the..."

"I know", Touko interrupted her rudely. For a second she simply stared at the Pokéball before realizing her mother wasn't going to let got of this topic this easily. So she resorted to tossing the Pokéball onto the ground which revealed a super excited Lillipup. It hadn't even fully materialized and it already started to jump around, causing chaos all over Touko's _totally_ sorted bag.

"Yay, is it play time again? I love play time, I love it, I love it!"

Ollie, who had by now finished her chocolate bar, smiled happily upon seeing her friend and let out some chattering, before sending out the message, that no, this was not playtime. It was food time. Even better, Lil decided. "Everytime is playtime! Everytime! I'm so happy trainer let me out again, I'm soooooo happy! We're going to have so much fun, it's going to be amazing! Yay, yay, yay!" The Puppy Pokémon twirled around before settling down in front of Touko and happily awaiting her food. Touko let out a sigh once she gazed into those endlessly loyal eyes. Why? Why did he need to be so overly attached to her? Why?

But there was no helping it, so she opened up the package revealing some dry food (she knew every nature's preferred type of food by heart) and watched her Pokémon use Odor sleuth for some unknown reason. Pokémon could be _so_ confusing. Not that she hadn't read about them using their attacks for, well, other things than battling, but it still was kind of weird.

Anyway.

"Touko, why don't you let her play outside with Ollie? The two seem to..."

"Mom, you don't _get_ it!", Touko hissed, whirling around anger clearly visible in her eyes.

"It's….You _know_ my plans! You know what will happen to her!" And then she turned back. Why did her mum need to be so _obnoxious_. Arceus, she _hated_ this! She had had enough trouble with this all on her own, why did her mother ne...

A soft hand on her shoulder made her tense posture relax a bit as she starred at her sandwich noticing a shy Ollie and a bit less shy Lil at the edge of her field of vision. They seemed to be unsure what to do and they both had stopped eating. Could they help their trainer? But then again that other woman seemed to do just fine...So it was probably ok!

"Touko", a soft voice murmured as Celine tried to make her daughter turn around, to no avail though.

"You're trying to be the perfect trainer. And you can't. You've only started traveling a week ago!" Her mother chuckled and slightly shook her shoulder.

"I'm _not_..."

"Yes you are. I told you those shows you've watched aren't good for you. That's not what being a real trainer looks like and you _know_ it."

Touko sighed and closed her eyes. Why did her mom have to be so clever? For a second she glanced at her team and then she mustered the best smile she could to make them eat again. Just because she was sad it didn't mean they had to be sad. Her Pokémon seemed to be content with this, although Ollie seemed to be a bit reluctant at first. In fact, her starter had only turned away once she had taken a bite from her sandwich.

"I have to let her go eventually", Touko whispered as soon as she was sure her Pokémon couldn't hear her anymore. Or rather, they were too busy scattering their food all across the green grass and then finding it and _then_ eating it.

She'd have to teach them some table manners at some point. They weren't animals after all.

"You don't have to", her mother responded sincerely. Touko's head shot up and then she half turned, facing her mom, a confused expression on her face.

"Whad?", she asked, her mouth still full from her second bite,"Bud whads widsh my blansh…?"

Again, her mother simply chuckled before she responded:"You don't have to do as you planned out. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into. Also, you spent most of your time "planning" watching "educational" youtube videos and shows. Don't think I didn't notice!" Immediately Touko's head turned red, a panicking expression on her face, and now she fully turned, almost spitting the last bits of her sandwich out.

"I DIDN'T..."

"Don't lie, Touko, we both know it's true", her mother simply deadpanned.

Touko's blush intensified and her eyes fell to the floor as she took another bite before mumbling a simple "Maybe I did watsh shoooome videosh dhadsh weren'd neshesharry...". But she put a great emphasis on "shome".

Her mum simply laughed and ruffled her hair.

"You see! It's fine. You don't need to do anything according to plan. It's not like you ever did that in the first place…"

Again, Celine laughed. Then she pointed at the scattered items laying all around and ordered:"But we better clean this up now, or else someone may mistaken it for stray items..."

Hastily Touko agreed, snatching the items on the floor and aimlessly putting the back into her bag. How long would it take her, Celine wondered, until she figured out keeping everything neat and tidy would be rather helpful during her journey? Probably a year, counting her pride and therefore unwillingness to do so.

The two woman sat in silence for quite some time before Touko started hesitating, shooting occasional glances at her mom.

It was only when she accidentally dropped the potion in her hands that her mother noticed.

"Huh? Is everything ok?", she asked, wise eyes scanning her daughter's posture. She was biting her lips again. It took her daughter quite some time to built the courage to finally speak.

"Mu...Mum, did you...Did you ever let go of one of your Pokémon? As in, did you ever say good bye to one because…"

She glanced at Lil who was idly sitting in the grass, enjoying the sun on her full belly. She looked back at her nails painted black. "Because you needed a new team? To...". The girl gulped before continuing:"To make place for some else?" Just now she dared to look at her mother who was smiling an understanding smile. She took her daughters hand and tried to look into her eyes, but it didn't work. Touko refused to meet hers.

"No, Touko. I never had to. I didn't have any elaborate plans or a PokéDex to fill."

Touko blushed. Oh. Yeah. The PokéDex.

"I just caught the Pokémon I wanted to be in my party. But, I know someone who definitely..." Immediately Touko ripped her hands from her mother's grip and jumped up, an annoyed expression on her face.

"I'm not going to call him!", she exclaimed loudly, earning glances from some other pedestrians walking around.

Not from her team though, they were to busy starring at a butterfly sitting on a flower in front of them.

"Touko, you promised!", her mother responded, her voice sounding demanding,"He's still your father!"

Celine got up too and looked at her daughter disapprovingly. She saw the stubborn pride in Touko's eyes and readied herself for another needless discussion.

"I don't...", she started, before stopping and noticing her mother's ordering stance. "Fine! I'll do it! Happy?!" Her mother didn't even as much as smile. Instead she handed her daughter her bag, sensing this little meetup of theirs was over.

"I'll call him this evening, Touko, and you better had had a chat with him until then, or I'm going to find _any_ school in Unova that still accepts students. And you _know_ I'd do it."

The brunette simply huffed and snatched her satchel, before turning her back on her mother and walking towards her team. "Whatever", she hissed,"But I've got to train now." And then, her voice just a tad bit softer, she added: "See you, mom!" She even glanced back over her shoulder and presented her mom something of a smile.

"Hey guys! Lunch is over! It's time for training!" Immediately, both Pokémon stood to attention and excitedly watcher her trainer (though, really, Ollie was only excited because of Furball).

"Playtime? More playtime? I looooove playtime!", the Lillipup exclaimed loudly (to any _Pokémon_ that was) and she ran to her trainer, jumping around her feet.

Touko just _had_ to smile watching the scene unfold, as Ollie trotted behind her newly found friend.

"Lets go, guys!", she whispered and made her way deeper into the Route, hoping she wouldn't encounter any trainers anytime soon. By now she had decided she wanted her first battle to be against Cheren. Or maybe Bianca. Screw that she might lose. As long as it wasn't just some random trainer running around the Route.

"Leave your Lillipup out of its ball!", her mom called after her, before putting her hands back on her lips as she watched her daughter apart. A quick wave and a "Yeah, yeah" was the only reaction she got, but Celine didn't see the colors of any Pokéball taken out of a bag, so she probably did as she had been ordered to do.

Celine sighed before turning around as well. It was only now she noticed the bag of trainers still laying in the grass. That sneaky, little…She picked the bag from the floor and turned around, a smile appearing on her face. Touko seemed to be fine. That was the most important part.

**.o.O.o.**

Touko starred at her VisoCaster. The sun was already setting. She let a sigh out and shoved it away, using her feet, starring to the Silhouette of Accumula Town in the distance. They were quite far away, but really, there was no reason to stay close. She was going to camp out anyway.

Arceus, Touko missed her bed.

Ollie was sitting next to her, starring at her paws. Furball was back in her ball and the small Water-Pokémon already missed her. She reminded her a bit of Fireball and that familiarity made things easier. The past few days had been stressful.

The Oshawott glanced at her trainer, wondering what the girl was up to now. She was constantly sending out a feeling of discomfort and it started to affect her. Ollie wondered why that was. And what had that strange device to do with it.

"You know...", the girl started, saying something in a language Ollie did not understand. Her ears perked up nonetheless.

"You...I really don't want to talk to..." Touko looked aside, watching her starter who, in return, was watching her.

Another sigh escaped her lips and she fixed her gaze onto the faraway city once more. They were so far away from everything, it physically hurt.

Touko shoved the VisoCaster a bit farther away.

There was no point of talking to her starter. Ollie didn't understand her. After all, she couldn't understand Pokémon. A throaty laugh erupted from Touko's aching chest as she bitterly contemplated the truth of that statement.

Arceus, she was getting way to melancholic. She should probably really just call her dad. Though it would hardly cheer her up.

It took Touko five minutes until she had finally mustered the courage to pick up her VisoCaster, a move carefully observed by her ever so loyal starter.

They'd make a good team. Maybe not yet, but at some point they'd make a great team, Touko knew it. And she didn't need her stupid dad's encouragement to know that.

The VisoCaster rung for two minutes or so before it was finally picked up. At first the man on the other side of the screen seemed to be rather annoyed, but upon seeing his daughter, his face lit up.

"Touko!"

She didn't dare to meet his eyes, her gaze fixed on a loose branch laying on the ground.

"Hi, dad", she murmured with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Her gaze graced Lil who had sat down, her tail whacking and again, using Odor Sleuth. What was their trainer doing?

"How are you? It's been some time since we last talked? How's everything going?" Her father had sat down, Touko could tell from the way his image shook and his eyes shone with serious curiosity. His voice...it sounded so _happy_ when seeing her and her seemed to genuinely care about her.

This hurt so much more than anything.

"It's...going", she responded, biting her lip. Then she added, her voice sounding a bit less...well, less of whatever emotion she was feeling:"How's everything...well, wherever you are? Any new badges? Any new regions?"

She really didn't care. She didn't even care where exactly her father was. All that mattered was that he wasn't here.

"Oh, nothing all too interesting. I'm back in Kan...Hey, were are _you_? Is that Route One? Heaven forbids, you actually left your _room_ for once?", he responded, a chuckle accompanying his voice. His question wasn't met with no answer. He frowned.

"Is everything ok? It just...Look, I didn't mean to insult you or a..."

"I'm on Route 2", Touko finally interrupted, her eyes still not meeting his. She swallowed and desperately tried not to bite her lips. Lil started getting agitated again (the feelings trainer was sending out...it felt so...so sad…) and Ollie had gotten up, wondering if there was _anything_ she could do. Whenever she felt sad her trainer would hug her, but she...she didn't feel all too comfortable doing that.

Tears started burning in the brunette's eyes.

"Route 2? Oh my, what...oh."

His smile faltered at once. He stopped looking at the camera. Both stayed silent for some time. "Look, Touko, sweetie, you...", he grasped, before giving up and trying to make eye contact.

He knew he wouldn't get it. But her felt like he owned it.

"I'm sorry. I...I really am. I didn't mean to...But hey! Good job! You already made it to Route 2 in what? Two days?"

"I left over a week ago."

Touko didn't look up. If she had, she would have seen her father's hopeful look crush beneath her words. They fell silent once more. She shouldn't have called him, Touko realized. "It's...Really, I'm sorry, sweetheart, it's just...I..."

Lil, ever curious, decided she had enough of sitting around and aimlessly using Odor Sleuth on this thing. So instead she climbed Touko's unguarded lap and examined it (she couldn't let it hurt her trainer after all!), wondering if she could lick her trainer's sad face happy again. But she didn't. Instead she stared at the screen, being met with an equally sad face. This one lit up though when he saw the Normal-type Pokémon. "Oh, hey, is that a Lilipup? It's cu..." His daughter didn't react. From her expression and movement, she was probably aimlessly pulling out grass. He bit his lip.

"I'm really sorry. It's just, you know..."A fleeting smile blinked across his face and then his guilty conscience was gone again. There was this sparkle in his eyes that told her how much he loved this life he had found for himself.

"I'm taking on Blue again and, you know, I'm in the midst of constant training. He..." He couldn't help but chuckle. "That dude, man, I tell you, he's one heck of a brick wall. No wonder he was champ once and...hey..." He missed seeing his daughter's eyes. He remembered how they had sparkled when she had still been younger. Whenever he had made his way back home into their welcoming arms.

Time had passed. She had grown up. He didn't get to see that sparkle all too often anymore.

But he knew he had no one to blame than himself.

"Touko, I promise I'll make it up to you, ok? How about we go out, grab some ice cream and have a training session once I'm back?"

His eyes lit up at the porspect. He'd love to see her battle. She would be amazing. Her mother had been amazing and if she had continued her travels, he was sure she'd be better than even he was.

Lilipup wriggled out of Touko's lap again, carefully setting her paws into the grass. That man was weird. He didn't talk at all. But somehow, he still managed to make trainer sad and didn't sit well with Furball, so she decided to dislike him. Just like her trainer did.

"And when are you going to come back?", Touko suddenly asked, her voice poisonous and bitter. And her eyes filled with scary determination. His throat fell dry. Again, silence filed their minds, except this time his daughter actually looked at him. He didn't dare to ask for more.

"Good luck on your gym battle."

It was Touko who broke the silence. Her voice had lost all its edge and instead...It sounded so _flat_. And lifeless. And her eyes had wandered away once more.

"Yeah. Thanks", he murmured, not looking at her either.

"Good...Have fun on your journey." He dared to chuckle, before adding:"It's not like you need luck with that determination of yours..." She didn't react. His smile fell. He let out a deep breath, wondering how many times Celine had threatened her until she had finally called him.

At least twice, he assumed. He expected her to call him any minute now to check up on whether Touko had actually called or tried to get out of it.

"Hey, heads up, sweetie", he said, desperatly trying to make her feel better again:"This journey will be the best time of your life. And don't ever forget…"

" _I love you_."

**.o.O.o.**

They had trained for quite a bit now. Ollie had gotten a bit stronger and Lillipup had done some catching up. But it was only when Touko decided to exclusively train Ollie's Tackle and being called "Lil" instead of Lillipup, that Furball realized she wasn't going to go back into the ball for quite some time.

Her face lit up and she almost _bit_ her trainer in excitement (that was a good sign, wasn't it?) as she loudly exclaimed:"I don't have to go back! I don't have to go back! I can stay outside!" And then, when she had calmed down and sat in front of the girl, looking up at her with those big shiny eyes of her, she murmured considerably quieter:"I love you, trainer."

" _I love you, trainer!"_

**.o.O.o.**

The first city N ever visited in his entire life was Striaton Town.

And he hated it.

Their hotel was close to the gym, a place N loathed and there were just so many people here, it was way too crowded. At least no one paid him any attention. It was something, N guessed.

Ghetsis was giving a speech at the moment. It wasn't anything fancy, nothing big, just a small little thing. They had called upon the local members to assemble and stand behind him in orderly lines while he gave the speech, in front of a few, curious onlookers. While they _could_ have afforded a more impressive scenery, they had decided against it. They wanted to appear humble and down-to-earth and _approachable_ after all, his father had said. N wondered why Ghetsis was of the opinion they _weren't_ approachable, but he hadn't mentioned any concern. He hadn't minded him deciding they shouldn't directly tell everyone about their… _unique_ hierarchy immediately either. And that maybe, he should take over the post of Team Plasma's leader in the eyes of the public for the time being. Again, N was fine with that and had signed the written order accordingly, without hesitating. His father knew more of the world than he did after all.

So now he was standing in a crowd, listening to his father's speech and tried his best to not look suspiciously. He wasn't sure if it was his awkwardness around humans or the colour of his hair ( _everyone_ seemed to take great interest in it for some reason), but people kept starring at him. Never for too long, though, really, it was more like a few glances. And, it wasn't that many people either, if he was truthful (something he had to be under _all_ circumstances after all he was the hero of _truth_ ). But still. He felt terrible. It were moments like these in which he wished his sisters would be standing next to him, encouraging him to speak to _someone_. So far he hadn't done so. He had thought about talking to two girls (from the looks they were best friends, their behaviour and looks didn't make them out to be sisters and the age difference was too small for them to be mother and daughter), as he had noticed them starring at him for longer than the average person. But he had shyed away from their gaze and had instead decided to hide in the shade of a tree.

He could feel the judging gazes from all the passerbys on his back.

What were they thinking, he wondered? Were they laughing at him? Were they already secretly calling the police?

N didn't know why, but Ghetsis had said he had to be careful around any police officer. And that he shouldn't tell _anyone_ , especially not law enforcement, about his occupation.

Well, if his father said so, he'd abide his order.

Another order, well, request, after all N was now _King_ , was for him to stay and listen to the speeches Ghetsis was giving. He didn't mind that either, although after the second one he had started to awkwardly hide beneath the leaves of some tree again. There weren't many people, really, but they already freaked him out. It was just so _different_ from the people in the castle! Plus, Ghetsis warning made him paranoid! "Don't let anyone know!", the sage had warned him before sending him off. But what if they found out, N wondered? Would they do something bad to him? They were humans after all and they _could_ do quite a lot of violent things.

A shiver went done his spine when he remembered just _what_ humans could do. Although, at the very least his father's punishments had never been for nothing. They were supposed to raise him to be the King of his people and of all free Pokémon alike.

It took N some time to calm his nerves (not, that anyone noticed he wasn't calm. Not showing any emotions was the way he had been raised. He was a _king_ after all). He needed to focus all his thoughts on some math problems to assure himself of his safety. And he kept his father's words in mind. The speeches he was giving and Team Plasmas overall position wasn't...It wasn't too extreme. At least not _yet_. They had to lure the people in, Ghetsis had said.

N wasn't sure if he _liked_ luring people in (why would they have to lure them in? They were _right_ after all!) but then again, his father knew more than he did.

At some point, they took a break. Everyone sat down, N a bit away from them (he wasn't to be associated with them, his father had requested) and stared at the air, before remembering the assignment he had received by Anthea and Concordia.

He was supposed to buy a sandwich. In a certain shop. And he had to take the bus to get there.

Well, if they wanted a sandwich, he'd have to get it. Although he was a king, they were still his sisters. And they had told them siblings were supposed to be nice to each other.

And thus, N got up, stretched and made his way to the bus station. It wasn't too far from here. And he couldn't wait to observe some more humans.

**.o.O.o.**

The bus ride itself was already taxing. Which was a pity. After all, he liked busses. And trains. And planes. And, of course, ferriswheels. Concordia and Anthea had taken him to the amusement park in Nimbasa City and he had loved it. The precise way machines worked, so easily described with nothing but numbers, was, simply put, mesmerizing.

But while N liked busses, he did not enjoy the close proximity to other humans. He kept being shoved around and everytime someone touched him he couldn't help but flinch as if he had been hit. He...He couldn't stand the feeling. He felt as if everyone was watching them, but it was worse than when the grunts did it. He felt like every single action of his betrayed his true identity and regardless of where he looked he was bombarded with things he didn't understand. Why was no one getting up for the elderly people, why was there a girl obviously wearing punk clothes sitting next to someone wearing a knee long skirt, why did no one talk and why did everyone seem so content with the stretching silence? N didn't know.

It got only worse when he accidentally knocked over someone's bag and tried to apologize but they seemed to get _offended_ because he was apologizing and...N decided he'd better walk.

So he got off at the next bus stop and made his way through the city. He had _wanted_ to ask for directions, but everyone seemed to be so _busy_ and everyone looked so...so aggressive and he didn't know where he was to start and was such a question even appropriate to ask and he should probably stop twirling around, people were starting to stare again and…

"Can I help you? You seem to be lost?", a voice suddenly asked and N almost, _almost!_ , screamed out loud. He twirled around, eyes wide just to be met with a middle aged woman's questioning eyes. He needed a few seconds to calm himself before he tried to remember just what exactly Anathea and Concordia had told him.

But he remembered. So that was that.

"Excuse me, Miss! Do you know how I get to this coffee shop?", he asked, his voice way too fast and his heart beating way too fast, handing the woman a piece of paper. She seemed to be rather confused by something and judging from the exact expression on her face it was most likely by him. He didn't understand why though. After all, he had even started with "Excuse me, Miss" (she wasn't wearing a ring, N had noticed that right from the start)! However, she still seemed to be open to helping him, if her posture wasn't a lie (humans were liars after all). A nice smile appeared on her face and she carefully took the paper, examining it for a second before looking at N once more.

"Oh, that's easy!", she said. And then she had proceeded to point at the bus station N had just gotten off.

"Just take line 9 to Lenter Street and you'll see it once you get off. It shouldn't take you more than another five to ten minutes!", she added, handing the paper back. N simply starred at the piece of paper. Then a "Oh" left his lips and he cast his eyes to the floor.

Confused the woman glanced at him (was everything alright? He did look rather strange with that green hair of his…), before shrugging her shoulder and proceeding to walk away, but then the stranger finally looked up again, a helpless smile on his lips as he asked, his voice way too fast _and_ way too quiet:"I...I don't want to take the bus, do you know how to get there by foot?" There was this spark of hope in his eyes that made her feel uncomfortable, but she didn't show it. Instead she looked into the direction the shop lay in.

"I mean, sure, but...why not just take the bus? It's still quiet a bit, but, if you enjoy walking, I guess..."

If N had just not said anything in that moment, he would have gotten his directions. But she had asked a question and questions were meant to be answered.

"Oh, it's just I don't feel comfortable squeezed into a tiny space with no privacy whatsoever and due to my upbringing I have always been quite far removed from any other human beings, therefore intensifying something that may be seen a social anxiety, however I prefer to describe it as "social confusion" as that is what I feel like most of the time, seems to be something I should avoid.."

He had said all of that in less than five seconds.

The woman simply stared at him, visibly confused. By the original dragon, had he offended her? She seemed to be so put off, she had even stepped back, what if his reasoning didn't make sense...

"Plus, I always feel a bit violated when my private space is invaded. Be it unintentional or not."

He gave her an apologetic half smile, wondering if he had done something wrong as he saw her shift uncomfortably again. She looked around (was there any way to get out of this situation without being _too_ rude?), but then directed her gaze back to him.

"Okay...So...The shop is that way..."

She turned again and pointed in a direction, but a rather irritated gaze was fixed on him.

"I'm sorry, could you stop starring at me? It is rather rude and as I just pointed out, I have some problems with human interactions", N then proceeded to ask. He didn't see anything wrong with that statement, it was his honest feeling, but the woman seemed to feel even more irritated and her "Sure" was said so late, one could hardly make the connection between his request and her response.

"Anyway. You go that way. Just...follow the street. There's no way to miss it...But, I need to go. It was nice meeting you!"

She then practically shoved the paper back into his hands before basically running away from didn't even answer when he asked if there was anything he could do to repay the favour. But N wasn't bothered by that. Instead he made his way to the coffee shop. He even managed to get the sandwiches, however, well...it didn't go all that well either.

The shop assistant seemed to be rather put off by N's question if he was feeling well. But Concordia and Anthea had told him asking people such things was a nice things to do and, to be fair, he had only asked because the boy behind the counter had looked so devoid of any energy wheresoever. Oh well. Such was life.

When he passed a couple of friend on his way back he was almost send into a panic attack as some of them mentioned he reminded him of that weird guy giving speeches and at the next turn, N stopped to buy himself a hat. He was very fond of hats. In fact, his very first Christmas present had been a hat. The vendor had named a price and N had paid, no questions asked, but that again had irritated the vendor. But what could possibly be wrong with paying? Well, it didn't matter. He had his hat, he had the sandwiches and he had the rest of the day off, so he knew exactly what he was going to do.

**.o.O.o.**

N had made his way to Route 2. It was a peaceful Route, some trees, some grass, some bushes. Little to no humans (except some obnoxious trainers, but they were all newbies so they weren't as bold when it came to battling yet, Ghetsis had told him). N took his time strolling through nature, enjoying the silence and, most importantly, the absence of stares. It was refreshing. All those encounters had drained him mentally and he couldn't wait to regain his composure once more to delve into human society once more.

Just when he started out walking, he had encountered a Patrat, busy with collecting food. At first it had been startled by N (Patrats - while curious- could getscared rather easily) before looking confused at this weird human. Well, all humans were weird, that was what made them so interesting, but this one was especially weird. This one...he actually _communicated_ with him! With actual words and not those weird sounds humans used! The Patrat didn't mind though. He seemed nice. And something about him calmed the Patrat so it hadn't run away like it normally would have done. Instead Big Mouth decided to use the situation. Quickly Big Mouth had told the boy he was next to stand guard at the den but he needed to collect some food. And that nice human had actually given him some of _his_! They usually only did that for the Pokémon that decided to follow a trainer!

Though this trainer had looked confused when he had said they did that. Why wouldn't humans take care of Pokémon that followed them? Humans seemed to like Pokémon that followed them a great deal.

The man had simply said it sadly wasn't always the case and than he had offered to take over Big Mouth's guard shift. Of course, he wasn't part of the group, but the human seemed nice and the feelings he was sending out felt genuine, so the Patrat told him about the Hidden Grotto where they resided. Sometimes even a Watchog that had left the group would show up! So, all in all, their home was pretty cool and he should totally check it out. And sure, he could guard it. Big Mouth had given some vague instructions and then had run off, his parting words being "Please don't be late!". N didn't intend to be that. So he ended up guarding the Hidden Grotto.

Not much happened, really. A few Pokémon showed up and then more and then even more as news spread quickly that there was a nice human guarding the Patrat's den and he could _properly_ talk. Soon it was like a convention going on there.

It was refreshing to N. To see this many Pokémon, all free and happy and unlike the one his father showed to him all the time.

They told him about the Route and asked him questions in return (which confused him – why would they care about what humans did?) and there was this particular Purrloin that seemed to take a special interest in him. It had asked him for something shiny and in return had told him her name. Shiny Marble. And then she just refused to leave.

N didn't mind. He needed a partner to beat the first gym and after asking her if she was willing to help him she had accepted.

Quite quickly actually.

It had confused N even more (why would a wild Pokémon be so willing to battle for the amusement of humans?) but then he had remembered that one coin he handed her earlier (N couldn't shake the feeling she had had her eyes set on his golden cube). He felt somewhat bad for bribing Shiny Marble and had immediately told her she didn't need to help him just because of that coin, but she had simply shrugged and responded she liked him. Although, more shiny objects were always welcome.

And then she had demanded head scratches.

N simply couldn't say "No".

And thus, when N made his way back home, there was a Purrloin trailing his path. She didn't even seem to be scared of the city. Which surprised N a great deal. But really, Pokémon were individual and so varied, he shouldn't be surprised he couldn't predict them like one could humans.

He still had to figure out that last equation, but Ghetsis had told him it was possible.

And so far, father had always been right.

**.o.O.o.**

It was late morning when Touko woke up. Yesterday had been another exhausting day filled with training so she had allowed herself the luxury to sleep in. Well, she still _had_ to get up, but later than usual with an alarm set at 10.00 o'clock. And one set at 10.10, just in case.

Today, Cheren was going to stop by and they had decided to meet down in the Center's lobby at 11.00 o'clock. Touko had judged an hour should be plenty of time to have a quick breakfast and get ready, although, really, she _knew_ she'd probably only have half an hour. She simply liked sleeping a bit too much.

Truth behold, she did blissfully ignore her alarm and she even more so ignored the second one, except that Ollie...well, Ollie was now fully awake.

And an overexcited Lil too who was no running around the room, jumping onto things she should probably _not_ jump onto and generally wrecking havoc.

It was this what made Touko shoot up, first looking at Ollie (the Water-Pokémon tended to get up earlier than her, but well, it didn't really _do_ much) confused, before it dawned on her.

Sleepily she rubbed her eye before taking a look at the newest team member, happily gnawing on Touko's shoes. How had it gotten out? Out of her Pokéball that was? Touko didn't remember having done that, but then again….She glanced at Ollie before looking at the Lillipup again. Than she glanced back. Did her starter know how to…?

Oh, well, it didn't matter. After all, Lil seemed to be happy. And it wasn't like Touko had known or anything.

They _didn't_ bond during this night.

Thus, determined to forget about it she enthusiastically clasped her hands and announced:"Alright guys, it's time to get ready and food. We're going to meet a friend of mine and I want the two of you to kick his butt. Ok?" She swung her legs out of bed, almost falling over Lil who had ran over as soon as the picture of them battling had left Touko's mind. A battle? They were going to battle? That was great, she loved battling, she had always beat her siblings in battle, except for Bigheart, but she had never dared to challenge him because obviously she knew he was stronger than her and...and...and...It was going to be awesome!

Touko smiled as she saw the Pokémon in front of her excitedly barking and, out of instinct, she bent down and patted its head (obviously, she regretted this decision and silently cursed herself). Immediately, Lil stopped barking and sat down, her eyes growing bigger and bigger. Her….her trainer petted her! This was amazing, it was the greatest day of her life! She...She hadn't really done so before and, and…And back was her excitement as she began spinning in circles some more.

Ollie was less thrilled about the announcement, unsurprisingly. She had to battle? But...she didn't want to! What if she got hurt?! Of course, so far she never had gotten seriously hurt (if you disregarded that one time she almost suffocated because of her trainer), but it could happen! Right? Right? Fireball had said so!

Touko got up and danced around Lil in order not to step on her before she made her way to the small sink in her room. The rooms weren't equipped with their own toilet or bathroom, but they had a small little sink once could use for various things. Like brushing ones teeth. Or, in Touko's case, to scoop up a handful in water and splash it into your face.

It really was time to get ready, wasn't it?

20 minutes later and Touko was downstairs, in the lobby, sitting at one of the tables enjoying her breakfast. Lil had had already finished hers and Touko had recalled her immediately after. This time not because she was too afraid of bonding too much with the Normal-Pokémon (of course, she _was_ afraid of that too, but that wasn't the main reason), but rather because there was a big sign hanging from the wall asking trainers to keep their Pokémon inside their balls if they were known to cause havoc.

Touko hadn't spent all that much time with Lil yet, but she was certain it applied to her.

Ollie on the other hand could stay outside. Plus, her starter hadn't even finished her food yet. And Touko knew why. This morning had been a first for the three of them. They had never once before slept in a PokéCenter. That itself was no problem at all, however Touko had rented it for two days which meant she could _finally_ leave her heavy suitcase behind.

That didn't sit well with Ollie the moment they left the room. She had already been in a bad mood from the start and she had barely recovered from the fact she had to _battle_ and then she wasn't even allowed to sit on her favorite spot anymore?! How unfair was that?! And when she had tried to climb onto her trainers shoulder ( _or_ head, keep in mind!) she had been rudely put down on the floor again. It was so unfair! Why was Furball allowed to be carried around in that ball? What was the point of those stupid things if not to make _her_ life easier.

Her trainer had then offered to carry her, but as if she'd let _that_ happen ever again!

This was...This sucked! And now she had to eat yucky food. Man, she missed berries. But at least it wasn't as bad as those weird human things her trainer had made her eat on the first day.

Touko's eyes fell to her lap and she bit her lip as she watched her starter stare at her food with something that definitely seemed to indicate her intent on murdering something. Arceus, what was she supposed to do now? She couldn't carry her suitcase around all the time! And if Ollie didn't want to be carried, then there wasn't really any other option than her walking. She was 13 lbs!

Cautiously Touko extended a hand, wondering if patting her starters head would make things better, but she didn't get to do it (Also, Ollie's expression told more than any word could ever do), before Cheren finally showed up. "Hey, Touko!", the black haired teenager said before sliding into the seat opposite of her, startling his childhood friend in the progress. A small smile played around his lips and he seemed to be in a...better mood than usual. His facial expression actually _existed_ for once.

Immediately Touko shot up and an excited "Cheren!" escaped her mouth. "You're here early!", she exclaimed, forgetting all about Ollie who was still sulking. Why did that trainer need to sit next to _her_?!). And how dare that girl forget about her?! That stupid trainer of hers was...well...She couldn't really finish the sentence, because she knew for a _fact_ her trainer wasn't mean.

But still. She was sulky nonetheless.

"What? I'm not late", Cheren responded, frowning and glancing at the clock."I mean, I'm not sure how long you've already been sitting here, having breakfast..."

His smile brightened when he looked at Ollie and he even tried to pet her, but she shyed away, feeling even more embarrassed. Today sucked. There was no denying it.

A quick glance to the big clock on the wall told Touko all she needed and a silent "Oh" left her lips, before she sat down again and adjusted her cap just the tiniest bit to hide her eyes a bit more.

"Eh...yeah...I knew that...". A blush formed on her cheeks.

Touko didn't even know why.

"So yeah, anyway...How have you been faring those past few days? Any big news?", she asked, glancing at the clock once more. Arceus, Ollie _really_ had taken her time. Or maybe she had taken a tad bit longer to paint her nails than she had taught.

"That's it?", Cheren asked, eyebrows raised,"You could have asked me that by calling..."

He folded his arms over his chest and shook his head, a sigh escaping lips. This was so typical for To...

"What? No!", Touko quickly exclaimed in response, almost jumping up again but stopping herself in her tracks.

"Of course not", she added, a smile forming on her lips. After all, Cheren was still Cheren.

"We're so going to have a battle, of course. I still need my first trainer battle and I want it to be against you, plus..." Cheren's smile died away immediately and he suspiciously glanced at Ollie, still busy trying to eat her breakfast.

The Oshawott was still angry, but she also felt like she should apologize to her trainer. Whatever.

"Plus, I want to spent time with one of my best friends! What's wrong with that? Except if you've gotten your hands on those HoloCaster prototypes Kalos seems to have set their eyes on...Hey, what's wrong?"

Just now the brunette noticed her friends dimmed mood. Had she said something wrong?

"I'm...I'm not sure if we should battle...", he murmured and, was that a blush forming on his cheeks? "What?" Confusion replaced Touko's smile and she frowned. Why...unless. A smug smile made its way to her eyes as she teased, her voice lowered:"Is someone torchicing out? Aww, I won't go too hard on you, my cute, little friend..." She stuck out her tongue for a second before falling back into the (rather hard) cushions of her seat, satisfied with herself.

Ollie's eyes perked up as she felt her trainer satisfaction and decided to give up on her food. Instead she switched seat places and wondered if she could convince her trainer to just let her stay on her shoulder.

It couldn't be too bad, right?

"No, Touko, really...I mean it. I...don't think this would be a fair battle..."

"Oh, come on! I know I probably won't win, but whatever! It's going to be a fun battle and I'm sure it will at least be somewhat useful for your first gym battle!", she interrupted him.

His eyes shyed away from her gaze though and for a second her didn't say anything. His head simply ducked, until he sighed and sat upright again, conceding defeat. There was no point in keeping it secret anyway.

Plus, Touko wouldn't let this go no matter what. He might as well cut this short.

Excitedly Touko looked at her friends, wathcing every single of his actions cautiously. What was going on? His features were so much more guarded now and she knew, whatever had been on his mind, he had made it up now.

"I already had my first gym battle."

Cheren said. Looking straight at Touko, not a single muscle in his face moving. For a moment Touko was taken aback, before frowning (having your first gym battle this early wasn't _all_ that special). But then her eyes lit up and there was this _sparkle_ as she felt this...this certain sense of _excitement_ tingling in her stomach. The one that slowly built up sometimes as if there was something new waiting just around the corner, just to die away after some time.

This time it lingered though.

"You already had your first battle? Wow, that's amazing! How did you do!? Any new strategies?!" Her voice quickened with every question she asked and she had sprung up, leaning on the table and starring down at the boy sitting opposite of her. Her eyes shone a brilliant blue as excitement took over her brain. This was amazing, she was so proud of him, this was great, after all he was such a…

Touko failed to see the blush forming on his cheeks and she failed to notice him polishing his glasses, a gesture all too typical for the black haired boy.

"I won."

Touko froze. While her brain had started hyperventilating, her eyes had roamed the lobby and now, slowly, they fell back onto Cheren whose blush had been replaced by a smug smile.

"You...what?" Her voice was nothing but a whisper as she slumped back into her chair, eyes never leaving her childhood friend. "You won?!" This time, her voice was louder, although not much.

Cheren leaned back, his smug smile spreading all across his face while he toyed with the object in his hand that Touko hadn't quite been able to make out. It was the Trio Badge as she now recognized.

He had done it. Cheren had actually done it. He had gotten his first badge in less than _two_ weeks. It had taken him half the recommended _and_ average time! This...This was amazing!

And also utterly disheartening. Touko couldn't help but feel envy at his success. If only her mother had allowed her to leave Route 1 earlier, if only…

"Well, congratulations!", Touko said with a smile covering up most of her real emotions. Really, she should be happy! Cheren was one of her best friends!

Ollie seemed to have noticed the change in atmosphere and climbed next to her, patting her on the arm in an attempt to cheer her trainer up again. It didn't really work. Plus she felt uncomfortable doing it.

"Thanks!", Cheren chimed, putting his badge on the table for all to see, his smug smile still in place.

"It was kind of a hard battle but, you know...I've had my way and in the end I managed to beat him", he boasted, head held high. And then, after seeing Touko's somewhat sad state, he added a sympathetic "It was close though!" to make her feel better. It wasn't even a lie, it _had_ been close but Touko didn't seem to buy it.

"Also, I learned a lot about them in school. After all, it's right next to the gym and..."

"You don't need to apologize!", Touko interrupted him, her smile finally reaching her eyes:"I'm glad you managed to win this quickly. It just means I'll have to train harder and beat you to the next gym!"

Touko gave him an encouraging smile before snatching the badge from the table, earning a loud "Hey!" from Cheren. At once she got up, clutching the badge and announcing theatrically:"Prepare for trouble!" She glanced at Ollie who was starring at the shiny thing in her trainer's hand. It looked so cool! She wanted one too! "And make it double!", she resumed,"It's time for Team Rocket and Imma steal your badge!"

She laughed when some other trainers around glanced at her in confusion, before sitting down again and throwing the badge back at Cheren who caught it with ease and started polishing it.

"Hey, so now that you're an expert, any tips on how to handle the first gym? Any tricks? Strategies? Thinks to watch out for?" Cheren's smug smile appeared once more while he put his badge into his neat, new badge box. Touko had one too but hers wasn't as fancy as the one Cheren had. After all she had bought hers online and it had to be cheap (her mom had told her that fancy gym boxes are a huge scam and once you get to the higher levels _no one_ – really no one – would care about it anyway), whilst Cheren's had been gifted to him by the league itself including a logo and his name engraved into it.

"Well, I would loooooove to tell you all about it, but you know, league secret and stuff...But you better prepare..."

His voice took on a secretive tone and Touko couldn't help but snort, flicking his head.

"Aww, come on", she responded,"Not the tiniest little help from my lifelong friend?" Cheren got up ad shook his head, still smiling.

"Nope. I had to figure it out all by myself..." "Your teachers told you!" "...too. Plus, you don't want anyone saying you didn't get that badge all by yourself, now do you?"

The brunette pouted, pushing an Ollie away that struggled to get on her lap:"Pff! You're mean!" Then she, too, got up, dusting of her denim jeans and setting her cap right. "Anyway, want to go out to train a bit? I still need to have my first trainer battle, you know..."

"Pah, as if you'd stand a chance!"

**.o.O.o.**

There was quite an accommodation outside the PokémonCenter as few people had gathered around the small town square, all of them neatly staying of the grass. Touko shot Cheren a curious glance, but he simply shrugged and made his way towards the crowd, stretching his neck hoping he might see something.

He didn't.

"I'm not tall enough, we need...", Cheren said, looking down again and searching for Touko just in time for him to see her small silhouette squeeze herself through the masses. Cheren sighed and looked at Ollie who had been left behind by her overeager trainer. He knelt down, patting the Water Pokémon on its back as he saw its obviously hurt expression.

Poor Oshawott. Although he knew Touko didn't mean any harm.

"Hey, don't worry. She'll come back", he said, trying to scratch the Pokémon's head, but sulkily it stepped aside, glancing at him angrily. Cheren sighed again. He wondered just how his childhood friend would change throughout this journey.

"Excuse me? Sorry! Small, little person coming through!", Touko murmured as she used her entire body to squeeze through the crowd and make her way to the front. A few angered looks were thrown her way and quite a few insults (Arceus, waaay too many insults!), but that was about it. She even managed to get fairly far until she decided she couldn't just shove a dad with his kids out of the way.

Luckily, she could look over the youngest kid's head easily and what she saw….Well, it confused her.

There were a bunch of guys all dressed up like knights standing in a silent, somewhat eerie line. Almost like a wall made out of humans. There were two flags with a shield and a blue "P" on it and then, of course, there was the main attraction. An old geezer with strange green hair (was that natural? No way that was his actual hair color, right?) and even stranger clothes. Or, rather, robes. What was he even wearing? But, most importantly, why? Had Accumula Town some kind of medieval festival planned out? It's not like this town _had_ a lot of that sort of history. At least not the kind where people dressed up like knights.

"What's going on?", Touko asked one of the bystanders (one of those that she hadn't pushed away earlier, or so she hoped), her voice barely a whisper. The way that old man looked...She felt as if she wasn't _allowed_ to raise her voice in his presence.

The woman didn't even as much as turn to her as she whispered a response. "I don't know. They haven't said anything yet and I didn't know there were any plans of that sort..." "I heard some weird Pokémon rights group has planned some sort of announcement", another bystander commented:"But those people couldn't possibly be them, right?" "A Pokémon rights group? Oh Arceus, I'm out of here!", someone else responded and then there was shufling and a few murmured apologies.

Touko followed the man leaving the crowd with her eyes before turning back to the scene unfolding in front of her. Nothing happened. Touko started scanning the crowd with her eyes (wait, was that someone else with the same shade of hair...no, she must have been mistaken), looking for Cheren and O…

Ollie!

Arceus, what had she done?! She had left her starter all alone! Well, not all alone, Cheren was still there, but that was Cheren! He had probably left Ollie all to herself knowing his tunnel vision!

Touko was about to turn, when that weird man finally spoke up.

"Welcome! Welcome, citizens of Unova! My name is Ghetsis and I came to speak to _all_ of you. From the wisest elder to the most curious child, you all shall bear witness to my words!"

Well, he sure went in swinging, Touko thought to herself. But then she turned again. His voice may capture her attention immediately, sounding strangely soothing and his words seemed rather interesting, but none of that mattered compared to the reality of her starter being somewhere lost and alone all because she had been irresponsible.

Again.

Hurrying she made her way through the masses, missing the short glance Ghetsis shot her, one of the only people that was leaving _this_ early into his speech.

Barbarians.

"Ollie?", she whispered, looking around as soon as she had emerged again a few seconds later.

**x**

N made his way through the group of people. For being such a small town quite a lot of people had shown up, a quite encouraging sign. Which was the only plusside of the commotion. It was rather packed and N had trouble not _touching_ anyone, as he was shoved around. In fact there was this particular aggressive swirl of brown hair that had rushed through the crowd just a minute ago.

It was a good sign they all were so eager to learn about Team Plasma's message though. So he couldn't be all too mad. A happy smile made it's way to his eyes and he almost, _almost_ , lost his composure by humming a melody. He could stop himself just on time though.

He glanced at the Purrloin trailing behind him. She had decided to walk on four legs instead of two, which was quite the change from her usual behaviour. Humans liked it more that way, she had said. And that made it easier to get their shiny stuff.

Also, some of them were really good at petting.

N had simply frowned when he had heard that last statement.

**x**

"Today I have come to speak to you about man's best friend. About Pokémon! We love them! We cherish them! That is why I have founded this team! To show our love and affection for those strange yet so familiar beings!"

A tremor went through the townsfolk. Where was he going with this? Some people had an idea where this was going, others were still clueless.

**x**

"Ollie!", Touko called out a second time, much louder this time. She started to panic. What...What if she had been stolen?! She was a horrible trainer!

"We see them as our equals, as beings just as precious and lovable as our fellow humans!"

**x**

N could only nod when hearing his father's familiar words. Although there seemed to be only a few people agreeing with the sage's words as more and more people decided to leave the small park like area, making their way to different parts of the town.

**x**

"But is that really true?", Cheren finished the weird man's sentence in his head and sighed. Shaking his head and glanced sideways, spotting Touko in the crowd of leaving people, frantically searching for them. He smiled. It had taken her long enough. But, as much as he liked poking fun at her, he wouldn't torture her this way. So, quickly, he raised his hand. Although he didn't shout. He didn't want to ruin that man's speech.

**x**

N spotted a young girl seemingly searching for something and he had almost offered to help her, until he remembered his father's words.

"Humans are to serve you."

He did not necessarily agree with that, he had voiced this plenty of times (of course he had never _directly_ told Ghetsis), but he was also not going to defy his father's orders. At least not right in front of him.

Also, the moment he noticed two PokéBalls hanging from her belt, he had greatly lost interest in doing so in the first place.

**x**

"But, is that really true? We say we love them, yet we imprison them. We say we care for them, yet they rot away in boxes. We say we'll always keep them safe and we'll never let them go, yet, after a year, they end up as a simple pet or in the hands of friends and family!"

For a second Touko froze. Wh...What? She whirled around, staring at the man, as sad smile adorning his rather emotionless features. Her eyes widened. What had that man just said?

"How many people do you know that just gave up on their Pokémon once they had outlived their use? How many starters never got to see more than one badge?"

The ball hanging from Touko's belt felt so much heavier all of sudden. She gulped.

"How many..." No. Arceus, that was just some stupid hipster freak and Touko would refuse to listen to the nonsense he was spying. She turned back. No. Although she couldn't quite tune out what he was saying.

**x**

N stopped for a second when he heard a strange voice calling out someone's name. In fact, it wasn't so much of a voice and more a picture. A picture of a by now rather familiar brunette girl (wasn't she the one that had shoved him aside just earlier?) appeared in his head, but the feeling accompanying wasn't happy, but rather upset. His head whirled around.

He knew it! He knew it! The second he met a trainer they were mistreating there Pokémon! It had been quite some time since N had _ever_ let down his carefully set up mask, but in this moment he couldn't help it. He wished he had ripped the PokéBalls away from that trainer!

Not long and he spotted a young Oshawott accompanied by another teenager (judging from the looks he was a trainer too), searching for something. Or someone.

Poor Oshawott. She shouldn't look for that foolish trainer of hers. She should run away as long as she got the chance.

Ollie had by now noticed her frantically searching trainer and her eyes lit up. Then the sparkle disappeared again and the Pokémon turned her head, huffing and crossing her little arms. Pfff. Her trainer was _terrible_!

**x**

"We're not asking you for much…" Ghetsis gritted his teeth for a moment when he saw more and more people leaving. His job was not an easy one and the uneducated masses were nothing but barbarians. But they'd get where he wanted them to be.

Team Plasma would succeed.

**x**

Finally, Touko had made out her starter and ran towards her, basically falling to her knees in the progress.

"Heeeeey", she said, unsure of how to react. Ollie still refused to turn around. Oh Arceus, what had she done? Why...Why did this happen time and time again! It was the same when she had left Professor Juniper's lab!

N scoffed and shook his head. This was...It was disgusting, really.

"They look nice", Shiny Marble said. She had gotten onto her hind legs to get a better overview. "It's not nice. The anger. The sadness. You know?" Shiny Marble sat back down again and looked at him. "I'm confused. The happiness." N turned his head back to the scene unfolding in front of him. What was Shi…

"I'm glad you're back, stupid trainer."

**x**

"Let them out once in a while. Let them breathe the fresh air, see the stunning sunsets, experience nature. Don't keep them from _their_ home!"

For a second Cheren looked up, his gaze drifting along the wall of knights. Not a single one had any expression on their faces whatsoever. His gaze fell to the two PokéBalls hanging from his belt. He knew why he kept them inside their PokéBalls. He didn't want them to be in danger and he had already experienced how aggressive wild Pokémon could be. He preferred to let them out in an environment he could control.

Anyway. The speech was over and everybody else started to leave as well. Including the knights and that one weirdo.

**x**

N was shocked upon hearing this comment but then he remembered his father's words. Humans were manipulators.

He shook his head and concentrated on the three people in front of him again. The boy was standing a bit away from the girl and the Oshawott as if he was analyzing them. Not all that different from what he was doing, really. After all, N wanted to learn more about the relationship between humans and Pokémon. Not that there was anything he didn't already know.

"Ollie..."

Touko stretched out her hands, but quickly retracted them again. She...She felt like she couldn't touch her starter, but then again… She put her hand on Ollie's shoulder and immediately the Pokémon twirled around and hissed at her. Startled, Touko leaned back holding up both her hands in a gesture that clearly meant "I won't harm you". And she stayed that way while Ollie started chattering at her.

She seemed to be rather mad.

"Bad trainer, bad trainer, mean trainer, mean trainer! Stupid trainer! Too fast, too fast, too fast! Other trainer mean trainer too! Bad trainer! Strict trainer! I...I want to be close to trainer! I can't walk! Too dangerous! Too hurtful! Bad trainer! Strict trainer! Selfish trainer!"

And then Ollie stopped chattering and turned around, huffing once more.

Cheren couldn't help but chuckle, which earned him a pissed off glance from both, Ollie and Touko. And some other guy standing in their area Cheren had never seen before. There was a Purrloin standing next to him though, so he was probably a trainer too. Maybe he was looking for a battle.

Slowly, Touko let her hands fall to the ground and for a second she almost put her hand on her starters shoulder again.

"Sacred. So scary. I need warmth. Warmth, happiness, warmth."

But Touko didn't. Instead she bit her lip and looked at her lap, shifting uncomfortably. She was sitting on the street after all and small little stones dug themselves into the skin of her unprotected legs. But she wouldn't get up. She had to endure this until her starter had accepted her apology.

"O...Ollie...", she started, before her voice died away again. Arceus, what was she going to say? She had _forgotten_ her starter! None of this would have happened if she had just kept Ollie in her PokéBall from the very start!

N stepped closer, wondering about the strange girl's behavior. Why was she sitting on the floor? She was getting dirty and she seemed to feel rather uncomfortable. Why wouldn't she just get up? Of course, he wouldn't have gotten up either, but he was the King of Team _Plasma_ and he could talk to Pokémon. That made things just a little bit different.

"Battle, battle, I want to battle!"

Shiny Marble's words brought him back to reality. Battle?!

"Ollie...", Touko murmured again, again hesitatingly extending her fingers, letting them dance around her starters fragile stature.

"Just recall it", Cheren proposed, watching the scene unfold,"It's young and it needs some time to cool off, that's all!" Touko shot him a stubborn smile, before looking back at her starter.

N froze at the boy's words. That was….How dare he?! That's it. He was going to battle that boy and he was going to make sure he regretted his words. Determined he made his way towards the small group but once again he was halted by the Oshawott's words.

"Scared, scared, so alone." For a second there was nothing but overwhelming sadness. A well known sadness, scary and lonely.

But then it was gone again. He knew the feeling but he knew he had deserved it.

"Hey...Hey, if...if it makes you fell any better, I'll carry you on my shoulder for the rest of the day?"

It was a shot in the dark but Touko knew her starter had wanted to take a seat exactly there, so maybe it would help to cheer up.

And boy did it do just that.

Immediately Ollie twirled around, happiness sparkling in her gray eyes and she went as far as hugging Touko's leg. She even made one of those chattering noises, except this time it sounded happy. A relieved expression washed over Touko's face and she dared to lay a hand on her partner's back, before looking up and giving Cheren the smuggest smile she could muster.

At first N had been baffled by the girl's action. She...She had shown actual compassion for her partner's feelings and had just stuffed the Oshawott back into her prison as the boy had advised. She had actually tried to make things right apparently and she had _known_ what might cheer her partner up. He hadn't expected any human to behave like that. But then there was this smug smile and his illusion came crashing down. He could _hear_ the Oshawott smiling, accompanied by some other happy thoughts. He could sense the fact she actually admired this girl. And how did she repay this loyalty? By playing a game of who's right with her friend. By, probably, betting on her starter's feelings.

N felt disgusted once more. And he had made up his mind.

Determined, he pushed his newly acquired cap into his face and made his way to them, Shiny Marble trailing behind him. His footsteps were deliberately loud, announcing his presence to the two, although the girl genuinely seemed to be absorbed into the hug she was sharing with the Oshawott.

Humans truly were manipulative.

"Oh, hey", the teenager boy said as he noticed the other one approaching. Great. Another weirdo. He was probably best friends with the first one.

Now Touko looked up to, an expression of wonder adorning her features. "Heeeey..."

Oh, wow. For a second she didn't really say anything and just looked at the stranger that had suddenly shown up before she remembered her manners and tried to get up. Something that didn't work because of a certain Pokémon snuggling on her leg.

"O...Ollie...Please get off, I want to get up...", she murmured, feeling a bit awkward as the stranger kept starring at her. She _almost_ blushed. But she didn't

"Chaaa...", her starter responded, holding on to her leg a bit more. Touko sighed and crossed her arms. "Yeah, no, my legs are starting to hurt", was her only comment and she shoved Ollie away. "Cha!" Stretching her legs she dusted them off before turning to the stranger and giving him a welcoming smile.

"Hi, is..."

She stopped in her tracks when Ollie started tucking at her leg and reminding her of the promise she had made. Immediately Touko got a bad conscious once again and she carefully picked up the Oshawott (that couldn't help but to squeal out of fear of getting pressed against a ribcage again). Then she put her down on her shoulder.

It didn't take her starter even a second to start climbing her head. "What, no!", Touko called out, trying to keep Ollie from doing so, but another "Chaaa!" and a smug "You _did_ just forget about her" from Cheren convinced her. Slightly annoyed she let her hands fall to her side and tried to ignore the sudden weight she had to balance on her head and the slight tucking at her hair. Then she turned to the stranger once again, her smile not as bright anymore (why was Ollie so _heavy_?! She was a young Pokémon!) and she asked once more:"Is a..." Again, she wasn't allowed to finish her sentence. This time the greenhaired boy interrupted her.

"I want to battle."

It was a simple statement and it was devoid of _any_ emotion. Which was weird. His stance and expression told a different tale.

"What? Oh." She should have known. After all there was a Purrloin trailing behind him. But glancing at Ollie who now happily sat atop of her throne, she felt like her starter didn't necessarily want to fight. Slowly she looked back at the boy in front of her and said, her voice apologizing:"I'm not sure if..." "You're a trainer, aren't you?", he interrupted her again. She didn't get the chance to answer, because he started talking.

And boy did he start talking fast.

"Well, so am I and I challenge you. Our eyes have met, we both have two Pokémon, still capable of fighting and there are no restrictions around. And that's what trainers do, right? We battle until our Pokémon lose consciousness due to overexhaustion. I challenge you."

Touko flinched when she heard the, yes, _disgust_ in his voice. She shuddered when she saw his expression.

"Shiny Marble!"

Immediately the Purrloin jumped in front of him and sat down, looking at Touko expectantly. The girl in question simply looked at her starter and tried to apologize through her expression alone. "I'm sorry, Ollie, but it seems like you'll have to give up your chair for now..." A sad "cha" was Ollie's response. But she didn't struggle when Touko put her on the floor. Then the brunette stepped back and shoved her cap into her face, glancing at Cheren.

And then it hit her.

This was her first battle against another player. Her eyes lit up. Maybe it wasn't one against her friends, but this boy sure looked interesting enough to make for a good opponent.

And there was this small sparkle again.

Maybe they could become rivals!

Looking at him, she sure didn't mind.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there ^^
> 
> There has been quite a delay, but I hope to get more frequent updates through starting from now (no promises though!)
> 
> Other than that, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^ If you did, any comment would be greatly appreciated =D
> 
> Read you later  
> Bluestpaw


	5. Mixed colours are black - or white

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How was your day, Lord N?"
> 
> They, Concordia, Anthea and N, were sitting in a restaurant, dining. Ghetsis hadn't been able to join him as he had needed to attend a meeting with the other six sages. N didn't mind. Eating with his father could be...exhausting at times.
> 
> Although it was also highly educational.
> 
> "It was nice. I met some people."
> 
> -
> 
> "Uhm...So...Are you tagging along?" Touko turned sideways in an attempt to not let her burning cheeks be seen. Why was she...Alright. No. Touko knew full well why she was getting so nervous all of sudden. Good-looking, mysterious stranger? The start of her journey? Life really did imitate the arts at time.

Too little colours to describe the world  
Chapter 5  
Mixed colours are black - or white

* * *

Sirens. There were sirens everywhere. And voices. Loud, shaky, silent, horrible, pretty voices. They were everywhere and nowhere and just inside his head and outside, in the vast world that seemed to collapse and, and...

It was too loud. Too loud, too much, too silent, too confusing. It was scary and weird and horrible and it made him cry. Loudly.

The boy was shaking, sitting in his chair, in a calm and silent waiting room. There were flashes and lightening and shouting and screaming and one voice, time and time and _time_ again telling him to stay hidden, to stay safe, don't go, just stay here, there is nothing you can do.

There hadn't been anything he could have done.

The boy was shaking. There was nothing he could do.

There were people sitting around him. Probably. Maybe. He couldn't really see them. Only shadows and masks and lies and blurred faces.

The people said things. They screamed and shouted and whispered and murmured and tried to talk to him, _somehow_ , but there was nothing but sirens filling his head. Loud, screeching sirens.

At some point they left him alone. No one knew what they were going to do with him. The boy didn't notice. He simply stared at nothing (or everything, if one could have read his mind). But they left. And they didn't come back. And then, he finally was alone.

The boy didn't notice the passage of time. There was another attempt made to comfort him, by an officer, but he couldn't hear him. The sirens shut out everything else.

The officer itself looked like a monster. It looked like so many faces, like people looming above him, like an animal, like a friend, like an enemy and, and, and...The boy almost lashed out at him. Almost. He almost tore his fingers across his face, like claws, like a hurt animal trying to escape its doom, written in stone.

But he didn't. Fear paralysed him. Made his thoughts freeze.

"We're sorry, but you need to calm down, you need to calm down, you need to calm down, there's nothing you could have done...need to calm down...down...nothing..." The boy panicked. They had to restrain him. His heart beat too fast, as he faced the officer once more, his face distorted. Where? Where?!

WHERE?!

Where were they?

**.o.O.o.**

The battle was...weird? Strange? Easy? Touko wasn't entirely sure what she should call it. It had been fun, that was for sure. A mom and her kids had even decided to watch and Cheren had volunteered to be the referee, for no other reason than wanting to get some more experience in that field – battles like these didn't really need a referee – and to make Touko feel a bit less disappointed in "wasting" her first battle on a total stranger. After all, she had wanted to fight _him_ – regardless of ho she would have been beaten by him. The brunette didn't mind though. Said stranger looked intriguing enough to be more than just a "throw-away"- battle and she wasn't foolish enough to believe she stood an actual chance against Cheren. The way the other trainer had approached Cheren and her had already made it feel like more than just any other battle and whilst she was sad she didn't get to kick Cheren's butt ( _knowing_ something and fantasizing about it were two different things), the boy did put up quite a fight.

The most interesting part however wasn't the way he talked (and, honestly, _behaved_ ), no, it was the way he _fought_.

While Touko kept shouting out commands (unnecessary loudly and excitedly at that), really just confusing her starter at times, he just... _stood_ there. He didn't show _any_ excitement at _all._ All he did was focus on Ollie (something that didn't even seem to bother the Oshawott this time around) and other than that he sometimes shot glances at her, a certain determined expression in his eyes, that remembered Touko of _something_. During a few, rare moments he frowned, as if confused by something, but that seemed to be the entire range of emotions he was capable of.

Touko really wondered what exactly confused him, but he didn't say a _single word_. He didn't even tell his Pokémon what she was supposed to do. The Purrloin just did! Usually such behaviour was only seen with Veteran Trainers and this boy certainly wasn't. Although, his strategies seemed to be _way_ better than hers. And so was their execution. Honestly, Touko had only won due to her Pokémon simply having more experience and overall being a bit stronger. Her PokéDex-Scanner had put the Purrloin somewhere between level 7 and 8 and Ollie was by now level 10. _And_ it had access to a STAB-attack. The fight hadn't necessarily been fair. But really, the brunette was too satisfied with the result of having won her first trainer battle to complain about that. It was a One on One battle too. The stranger only had one Pokémon anyway, which was taken out by Ollie, and Touko didn't feel all too comfortable with using Lil.

She had given up trying to refer to her by her species name.

Once the battle was over Cheren pompously announced Touko as the winner, something that should cheer her up, but somehow...it didn't. Touko couldn't look away from the stranger that just stood there. Not sad or angry, just _confused_ and almost _broken_.

Well. That was probably a bit exaggerated. But still.

Worst was he didn't move at all. It was only when Touko almost recalled her starter – Ollie _had_ taken quite the beating after all (really, she shouldn't have gotten attacked all that much if Touko had been a better trainer) – that he moved. And started started behaving _real_ weird. Although, there was a certain sense of childlike innocence to his complete oblivion to his weirdness that Touko couldn't help but admire.

"Wait!", he simply exclaimed before rushing over and kneeling down in front of Ollie who seemed to behave unexpectedly friendly instead of displaying her usual coyness.

Touko got somewhat...nervous? as she observed the boy doing...whatever he was doing. She tried to shake the feeling though and decided the situation got a bit _too_ awkward. He just... _sat_ there. Again, he didn't even _talk_ to her starter.

"Uh, is everything ok?", she asked.

Cautiously, she shifted her weight from one leg onto the other. What was he up too? He looked rather harmless, but still. She didn't want her starter to get hurt. However, her former opponent seemed to be as confused as she was, starring at the small Oshawott way to intensely.

"Can I..." The boy interrupted her by whispering something she could not understand. She exchanged glances with Cheren. Maybe he knew…? No, he just shook his head. Touko's eyes fell back to teen sitting in front of her.

"Wha..." "This doesn't make sense!" His head shot up and now he stared at _her_. Angrily. And confused. A good mix out of both emotions.

Again, Touko glanced at Cheren who had strolled closer and looked equally intrigued by the other trainer, still kneeling on the ground.

"What...doesn't make sense?" It was a simple question, but it seemed to have quite the profound effect on him. It was like he just had realized something and...was he blushing? He got up, brushing of his clothes in the movement and now he directed his gaze at the other two players again (although he kept glancing at Ollie). He seemed to feel uncomfortable and...disappointed.

And scared.

N did indeed feel that way. _What_ was he doing? He knew this was going to happen, he had told Anathea and Concordia so – he just didn't fit in with other humans. He _knew_ their ways and yet, not even a week into this journey and he had already screwed up! But there was no helping it. And he couldn't be so rude as to simply ignore the question asked by the girl that had beaten him.

Something that wasn't supposed to happen in the first place.

"She likes you."

It was a simple statement. It wasn't supposed to offend her, in fact it was meant as a compliment (a Pokémon liking a human!) but judging from her reactions, she did feel insulted. Her somewhat happy expression disappeared immediately and she cast her eyes to the ground, fixating on the stone pavement.

Touko felt insulted. her feeling were hurt by the simple _idea_ that it may appear to some people that her starter _didn't_ like her. The suggestion made her stomach twist and she couldn't even get mad at the boy for pointing it out – she _had_ just left Ollie all alone (of course, Cheren had been there, but still). She didn't even dare to look at Ollie and bit her lip, a gesture that seemed to greatly irritate the strange boy. He frowned and just stared at her and slowly, it started feeling uncomfortable.

"Well, well I...I sure hope she does...", Touko stuttered, a silent whisper beneath her breath. And then she added, slightly raising her head, with a more humorous tone:"I feed her after all!" She even managed to smile.

Cheren blew some air through his nose. Ollie's eyes lit up (was she going to get food? She really should have eaten more during breakfast!) and Touko smiled smugly at salvaging this conversation (why was she trying though?) The boy however simply kept frowning. In fact, he seemed to get even _more_ irritated. Was this supposed to be a joke? Wasn't joking something reserved for friendlier relationships? Did they already view them as their friend? Well, getting a human friend was one of his missions and those two – or at least the girl – seemed to be alright.

Anyway.

"Food alone isn't a good basis for a Pokémon-Huaman-relationship. A the very least not for an equal and healthy one. It is much more about understanding each other and trying your best to conform to each other wishes, although, a Pokémon's viewpoint of things is, sadly, quite often ignored by their trainers and so called "owners". Especially the last part seemed to greatly agitate the young man and Touko let her head drop again, a gesture that made Ollie notice she might want to comfort her trainer. But then again...She _had_ just forgotten her.

"I...I was trying to make a joke", Touko stuttered, while she nervously scratched her neck. And _why_ was she feeling so nervous all of sudden?

The boy didn't seem to buy it. He had this unreadable expression on his face that greatly reminded her of Cheren. At least her childhood friend didn't like behave a closed book with a white cover at the moment.

"We...We should probably get to the PokéCenter", she added, trying to evade his piercing gaze. And trying to change the topic of conversation. Although, she couldn't shake the feeling that the reason for his behavior was confusion – for one reason or another – and curiosity. _Why_ he was curious was a whole different question.

Her suggestion seemed to have broken this spell of confusion and wonder placed upon the stranger as he suddenly got up (startling Ollie in the process. Shell, apparently even _he_ was weird!) and said something, yet again, really weird. "What?" Well, OK, it was a question. But still.

Cheren sighed and turned around, shaking his head in the process. Arceus, those two were the perfect match as rivals. Leave it to people like Touko to find the most strategic trainers that didn't have an ounce of understanding of what _being_ a trainer meant. "You have to go to a PokéCenter. Man, you just had an all-out battle! Honestly, that one was more hard-fought than usual trainer battles, so we should really get your...Shiny marvel? To the PokéCenter. It needs some treatment", he berated the boy, thankful that Touko wasn't as naive when it came to taking care of her Pokémon.

Sometimes.

Touko's head turned to look at her friend as soon as those words had left his mouth. Normal trainer battles weren't like that? Then...what were they like?

N, too, listened to the boy attentively (he seemed to know more than the girl), but froze when hearing the word "it". He inwardly cringed (he had decided he liked the girl more of the duo), although he managed to get his perfect facade up again. Just to lose it seconds later when he remembered Shiny Marble. By the original dragon, how could he have forgotten?!

He ran back to his partner, sitting down next to her and apologizing a thousand times to her. Shiny Marble didn't seem to mind all that much. Ollie couldn't help but feel like she had seen this scene before. And Touko's eyes lit up.

She wasn't the only one.

She wasn't the only one!

The girl almost jumped into the air. Almost. But then she remembered that she was a mature trainer and considering the way the strange boy behaved, or rather had behaved until after her battle, made her realize she had to grow up.

It didn't change that she felt like they could become friends. After all, he seemed to be equally overwhelmed, well, not overwhelmed because Touko _obviously_ wasn't overwhelmed, but...anyway.

"Sooo...Do you want to tag along? To get to the PokéCenter, I mean. We can wait for our Pokémon together!", Touko asked timidly, before taking out Ollie's PokéBall and recalled her starter.

It was a swift gesture. A normal one. There wasn't anything out of the extraordinary about , it seemed to irritate the boy once more.

"Why did you just recall her?" It wasn't so much of question as it really was more of an accusation and Touko felt guilty, for some reason. It were probably his eyes. And his somewhat commanding posture (she couldn't pinpoint what made her think that way though).

"Uh..." Touko didn't really know. Why had she recalled Ollie? They always did that in the shows she watched but thinking that out loud sounded like a very, very stupid reason. Luckily, Cheren stepped in, deciding he didn't really like this stranger. Something of that boy clashed with him. The way he spoke. The way he reacted to everything. It reminded him a bit of Touko, so Cheren really wasn't all that surprised to see her act more friendly toward him.

"To keep her starter save. That's why. Plus, you'll have to hand your Pokémon over while they're in their PokéBall anyway, so it doesn't really matter..." He ended the statement with a shrug before adding a slightly annoyed "We should probably get going by the way...".

The strange boy didn't seem to care about that at neither did Touko.

"You need to hand them in their PokéBalls?", the boy inquired, now starring at Shiny Marble. Both, Touko and Cheren, nodded.

Arceus, this was awkward.

The boy's gaze shifted away from the Purrloin. Then he looked at his empty hands before finally taking out a PokéBall from his bag and starring at that one. He seemed not to do anything for a solid minute (in truth he was apologizing to Shiny Marble for having to catch her) and then he threw the PokéBall at the Purrloin.

An action which surprised Touko and Cheren alike.

"Did...Did you just catch it?", the black-haired boy asked, looking at the boy sitting not too far away from them. Now it was up to N to scratch his neck.

"Uh, ye..." "Why didn't y..." "She followed you without having been caught?! That's amazing!", Touko interrupted both of them, her eyes lightning up as she stepped forward a bit. That was...awesome!

"Uhh..." N didn't know how to behave. Ghetsis had told him not to tell anyone he could speak to Pokémon, as being to close with Pokémon made them wary of you. After all, they were merely toys and tools to humanity and they didn't like the idea of them being equal in anyway. A notion that was, sadly, deeply engraved into human nature. Yet, this girl seemed to be rather excited at the idea of _not_ having to use a tool of slavery to get a Pokémon to obey your very orders (N cringed every time he remembered he had to be like that for a few years – really, he couldn't wait to finally beat the champion).

It was confusing. Although, not surprising, really. Thinking about it...No study was linear. There were always a few stray results that didn't match the bigger picture. The girl was simply a variable to be disregarded in the greater picture. A number so incredibly small it disappeared when rounding. And the boy seemed to match the data he had received by Ghetsis.

It was simple math really.

"I wish...Wow, it's...it's so cool!"

Although it was simple math, it still irritated him. N didn't like inexact data. It simply didn't look that nice. And it always made one question if there was an equation more befitting of the data.

Well, not this time.

The girl had stepped forward even more and was just a tad too close to him by now, which was confusing too. Usually, the humans he had met were rather aware of the importance of personal space. Meanwhile this girl seemed to fully disregard his, and her, need for it.

He should probably ask Anthea and Concordia about this.

The girl went on and on about how "great" and "cool" and "unbelievable" this was, all while her friend rolled his eyes and N was at a loss for words. What was he supposed to do know? He was used to admiration, but not... _this kind_ of admiration. Anthea and Concordia had never taught him. Maybe because they hadn't seen the need for it, considering how this situation wasn't supposed to happen in the first place. But it did. And he was stuck in it.

He couldn't necessarily say he _completely_ disliked it though.

It was only when the girl calmed down again and stretched out her hand, seemingly offering it to help him up (was that normal? For strangers to do that?) that he started paying attention to her words again (he hadn't even noticed his rude behavior until now – not listening was a show of disrespect and though the girl made him feel awkward he, in no way, meant to disrespect her). "Now you simply have to tag along! And you've got to tell me all about it, considering that Cheren..." Touko cheekily glanced at her friend who made a mean face in response. "...doesn't know a thing about it!" The girl now leaned over him, her hand still stretched out (maybe it was an offer of peace? But why would she _need_ to do that?) and her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

They were beautiful. Her eyes. Like deep oceans.

Was he supposed to take her hand just like that? Was she going to do something if he didn't? This was way to awkward. He almost hoped the other teenager would chime in again and berate them.

It was a weird situation. The boy didn't really do anything other than starring at her and Touko wasn't sure _what_ she had done wrong. Maybe she had gotten too close to him? Probably that.

It was just now that Touko stared directly into his eyes, and, well they were gorgeous. Examining his features closer, Touko couldn't help but acknowledge it wasn't just his eyes. _He_ was stunningly gorgeous and for a second she froze, before she quickly retracted her hand and pushed her cap into her face, effectively hiding her eyes (not the blush forming on her cheeks though).

"Uhm...So...Are you tagging along?" Touko turned sideways in an attempt to not let her burning cheeks be seen. Why was she...Alright. No. Touko knew _full well_ why she was getting so nervous all of sudden. Good-looking, mysterious stranger? The start of her journey? Life really _did_ imitate the arts at time.

N was confused by the girl's sudden change in behaviour, but seeing he didn't really have any other options (he had to get Shiny Marble to the PokéCenter and he wanted to study this specific specimen a bit further – plus he felt a certain amount of attraction to her). "O...k?", he murmured, slowly getting up, protectively clutching the Purrloin's PokéBall, mustering the girl. What was her name?

"Great!", she exclaimed in response (her voice was squeaking a bit). She turned back to him, her eyes sparkling again and an excited smile on her face. She even punched back her cap using two fingers."Then lets go!"

**.o.O.o.**

They went to the PokémonCenter together and the trip was filled with a rather awkward conversation. Cheren and Touko talked to each other the way they always did, of course. They were friends after all. Touko, however, tried, and failed, to desperately include N in the conversation. She had made him tag along after all. But he just seemed so distracted the whole time, as if he _was_ already talking to someone else.

She regretted having asked him along. He clearly didn't want to be around them. But he seemed nice (although akward) and she wouldn't mind another rival in addition to Cheren and Bianca.

Once they arrived at the PokéCenter, Cheren took his leave. "Hey, Touko, you owe 100 PokèDollar if I get the second badge before you get the first one!" were his parting words, as he snatched one of the free drinks they gave out at every PokéCenter during the summer. When Touko wanted to protest, he simply added a teasing "Are you too afraid to lose?" and that was it. After that, N and Touko patiently waited for their turn to hand in their Pokémon. And, the boy actually started talking to her. He did it very fast and it were mainly questions he should already know the answers too, but, maybe he was nervous. Which in return, made Touko feel nervous too.

It was a viscous circle of nervousness.

At some point they sat down in one of the various booths scattered around the lobby. And then they started talking as in, _having a conversation_. And it was nice. Heck, it was great! He didn't seeem to care about any topic at all and he even listened attentively when she explained the plot of some silly show that had been too cringeworthy even for Bianca to him! And he himself loved to talk about the beauty of Pokémon, something Touko couldn't agree with any more!

Though, nothing lasts forver and eventually N asked _why_ exactly she wanted to talk to him. After a short pause (her cheeks got a reddish tint so he concluded the question had embarrassed her), she responded sheepishly:"Well. You know...I'm not aaalll that good of a trainer and, you know...For example the whole Purrloin thing! How did you make her follow you without having to _catch_ her first?" The red tint on her cheeks disappeared again and so did her embarrassment. This wasn't Cheren after all.

She didn't look into his eyes though (Anthea and Concordia had taught him that eye contact was important). Arceus no, she definitely wouldn't look into his eyes. Or his face for that matter.

"Huh?" "I mean, you're such an amazing battler!", she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling again at the prospect of learning something about the things she loved most. Raising Pokémon.

N raised an eyebrow, remembering the defeat he had just suffered at this girl's very hands. His scepticism (he had given up on upholding a facade. The girl didn't do that either, plus they were having a friendly and innocent conversation - it was probably the first friendly and innocent conversation he had ever had with someone else other than his sisters) must have been visible, as the girl hurried to add:"Really, the only reason I won is because of Ollie's level advantage. There's no...Hey, what is it?"

He didn't answer her question, much to her surprise (was there anything secial about the golden cube?). If it was possible, he looked even more irritated than he did whenever she bit her lips. Which was a strange thing to say in the first place.

N couldn't help but feel annoyed. Not at the girl, at himself. He wasn't _supposed_ to lose. If he lost to a normal trainer, how was he going to win against the _Champion_?! He had to get better, but...he couldn't risk hurting his friends. He had already put Shiny Marble into too much danger just now. Although he couldn't help but remember the black-haired teen's words from earlier. "Honestly, that one was more hard-fought than usual trainer battles...". What a strange thing to say. Ghetsis had taught him otherwise. He had told him all fights were harsh and brutal and sickening. Well, both trainers were still young. Obviously they wouldn't be used to the brutality of Pokémon battles just yet. They got indoctrinated into the system after all.

Touko interpreted the boy's silence differently than what it actual was – a break for him to sort his thoughts – and desperately tried to make him fell better. He seemed to be genuinely nice and, well, she wouldn't _mind_ spending more time with him.

Already she could feel her cheeks heat up again.

"Don't worry about it! It wasn't really a fair fight. After all, you just got Shiny marble and I've had Ollie for over a week already!" It was this that caught N's attention. Immediately he snapped back to reality, his gaze falling upon the girl sitting in front of her, who seemed to be rather confused by this reaction (had she insulted him somehow? She was just trying to be nice…) There was this weird sense of determination in his eyes.

"You've "had" her? In like, owning her?", her asked, his voice sounding somewhat colder that it had done before. The determination wasn't really burning either, it was more a cold stare, something that was greatly enhanced by his gray eyes.

"Uh, yes..." Touko's head shifted to her side, at first confused. But then again, he did seem to _really_ care about the way one treated Pokémon. She wondered if he had anything to do with that Team Plasma group… "Is anything wrong with that statement?", she finished her sentence all while looking at him curiously.

For a moment N halted. It was nice. She just seemed curious. She didn't seem to be freaked out. She didn't seem to be on the verge of leaving. There was just a pair of curious blue eyes and another human that wanted to have a conversation with him. It reminded him a bit of his sisters before he had been crowned. Though they slowly left their shell once more. But they weren't here and he was going to do his best to convince this girl of the wrong in her ways.

"I don't like this concept of "ownership". Don't you think Pokémon should be free beings? What gives us the right to govern their lifes?"

Touko hesitated. For a moment she looked at the second PokéBall dangling from her hips. Then she bit her lips (again, this irritated N greatly. Why...How could she?!), before responding:"I mean...It's just a way to say things...There's no real _meaning_ behind it..."

It wasn't a really convincing response, Touko knew that much, and the sudden sparkling of the boy's eyes confirmed this.

He leaned a bit closer, his eyes narrowing and asked annoyed:"Really? Tell me, how much do _your_ Pokémon get to decide? Did "Ollie" ask you to let her fight because, from what I've gathered, she doesn't like doing it in the first place."

Touko visibly shrunk. He...well, he _had_ a point. But then again...She didn't _make_ Ollie fight all the time. She had put off catching a Patrat just for her! And she had asked her starter before the battle had started! But somehow...The way he looked at her made her feel as if she simply wasn't _allowed_ to object.

The other teen scoffed and fell back into the cushions.

That didn't mean he would stop telling the girl off though – this was the prefect chance for him to make her see reason. "And your other Pokémon!" Then he remembered Ghetsis words that one had to be liberal at first before going all the way. So he had to tone it down a bit. And tone down he did. By starting to monologue. He tried to emulate his father's way of speaking but failed, although he couldn't help but see a trainer in the booth next to theirs listen to him.

He had made two people listen to him! This alone warmed his heart. Maybe humanity wasn't lost after all.

Touko's stature started shrinking more and more the longer he went on (N felt bad for making _her_ feel bad, but she had to get over it – she had to see the truth!). What he said sounded reasonable, sure, but...did she really treat...her...Pokémon that way? She...She hadn't ever noticed. She had…

No.

She sat back upright again.

He was wrong. And although the way he spoke and acted and looked made her feel somewhat insignificant, she wasn't going to let him take away the core belief which had raised her. Her father was a great trainer (although he had been a horrible dad) and her mother had been a great trainer and both their respective teams (or in her father's case his _many_ teams) had adored them. And Touko knew Ollie didn't _hate_ her.

"I asked her...", she blurted out, her voice barely audible.

Oh. Yes. There was still that problem with her ability to discuss things properly. N, so caught up in his own monologue didn't even hear her words. He only noticed the movement of her lips. "What?" His voice sounded caught off guard.

"I asked her", Touko repeated, her head snapping up and looking at him, a bit more determined than she had been before.

She _knew_ this was right. She _knew_ Ollie liked being part of a team. She might be bad at discussing things, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from taking a stand.  
She wasn't going to be like Bianca's mother.

"You said Pokémon don't get to decide anything. But that's not true. I _asked_ Ollie if she wanted to battle and she didn't seem to mind. If she hadn't wanted to...I mean, there were plenty of occasions when that happened..."

Her eyes fell to her belt. She gulped. "And...And Lil...It's...It's complicated..." She looked sideways. Her arms were crossed defensively.

"Oh, really?" N raised an eyebrow. She sure was stubborn. But they way she acted made him feel like she didn't _deny_ what he was saying. "I...She loves me. And, well..." It was a difficult thing to say. Very, very difficult. "And I love her too..."

A whisper. It was nothing but a whisper. N heard it though and the way he reacted...Touko would have described it as his "ears perking up" although that wasn't possible. There was just something almost Pokémon-like in his movement.

"Of course she loves you. She doesn't have much of choice now, does she?", he said,"If she doesn't love you, her life would become even more horrible than it already is..."

Touko's head shot up. Ok. There was no way he _wasn't_ involved with those knight guys from before.

"That's not what I meant", she said,"I _know_ she loves me. I just do. She...She could have run away! She could have rejected me the first time I ever let her out of her PokéBall, but she didn't! She...She..." For a second, Touko hesitated. And then, without thinking about it more than that one second had allowed her to do, she grabbed Lil's PokéBall and opened it.

A white flash lit up their sitting area for a moment before it disappeared again and a small Lillipup appeared in front of them on the table. For a moment she blinked confused, before N started hearing her voice inside his head, excited and happy.

"Yay, yay, playtime, training! Thank you trainer!"

Lil didn't wait for anyone else to do anything and jumped right into her trainer's arms (trainer, she had wanted to do that since...like...forever!). She started rubbing her head against Touko's belly, while her voice kept echoing through N's thoughts and he couldn't help but...admire the Pokémon's loyalty. It was disgusting, really. That this girl confused such a strong emotion like "love" with a trait those Pokémon were born with. A trait they were _bred_ with. Although he couldn't help but feel happy. She seemed to care about the Lillipup. She seemed to genuinely care. It was kind of a nice scene. Seeing both of them so...set free?

Whatever it was, it looked nice, but just because something looked nice it didn't mean it was something good. This Lillipup deserved to be as free as the trainer holding her.

The small Pokémon stopped moving when she felt Touko's arms holding her protectively and in such a... _warm_ way. At first confusion filled Furball's eyes, but then...then she finally understood.

"Hug? Hug! HUG!"

She put her head against Touko's chest and let it rest there, snuggling into the girl's arms.

"Love you, trainer. Love you. Love you."

Touko couldn't help but smile. Carefully she combed through _her_ Lillipup's fur, enjoying the contact. For once, the thought of having to let her go at some point didn't cross her mind.

N kept his mouth shut about all the things he could have said right now. Although the girl had denied him any chance on responding, he felt like this debate was over. He couldn't deny this looked nice, but then again it would look so much nicer if the girl had been the Lillipup's mother instead of a stranger, ripping her from what she was used to. Also, she did keep the Lillipup in a ball most of the time. This wasn't the norm. As the Pokémon had said herself. "Training". That was her life, from now on until she was too old to fight her master's battles. It wasn't soft cuddles and warm thoughts. It was cold claws and piercing beaks.

It was terrible.

N really had to keep that in mind. He couldn't let a pair of pretty eyes and a soft conversation distract him from his mission.

His smile vanished and he couldn't bear to look at the girl anymore. This. This is exactly what Ghetsis had meant. This was one of the many facades humans put on as to not see their own depravity. It was this that N had to topple in order to built a new, better, and most importantly, _equal_ world.

But no silence lasts forever and soon, they started talking again. Both did. He didn't just listen and neither did she. There wasn't a specific topic they talked about. She started off with asking about "his" Purrloin (he did not correct her this time). He was surprised at how little she knew about battling. She was surprised at how little he knew about the arena challenge (and at his lack of knowledge of _any_ kind of show. Arceus, where had he lived?!) and it was just like before.

N found himself enjoying her company once more. Though, if he was honest, he hadn't minded her company during the discussion either - she had listened and she hadn't brushed him off - a behaviour that he had not expected at all. And, well, sometimes he felt himself become flustered for reasons unbeknownst to him.

It usually happened when he looked at her eyes. Or that one time when she told him excitedly about that one story where Ollie and she had tried to find some berries. See behaved almost childlike when talking about her adventures. It reminded him of someone, but he didn't quite know _who._

"What's your name, by the way?"

The question had popped up in Touko's head a while ago, but she had been too afraid to ask.

"Hm?" "Your name. I never asked."

Oh. That's right. He didn't know hers either...

"N..."

He was planning to tell her his full name, but then he stopped. Ghetsis had told him to be wary of other humans. Should he really tell this stran…"N? Just N? That's it?" The girl's question interrupted his thoughts and for a second he wanted to object, after all he was Natural Gropius Harmonia, future King of Unova, but then…He didn't mind just being N for the time being.

"Yeah. Just N."

It was a name reserved for the goddesses, but then again...He didn't want to appear too weird. For some reason. It would probably drive the girl off and he didn't want that. Of course only, because Anathea and Concordia had tasked him with getting to know some more humans.

"Oh, well. My name is..."

"Miss Touko Lote, your Oshawott is ready."

The girl sitting in front of him chuckled, as the announcement was blasted through the lobby.

"Well, that's my name. But I better get going. It was nice meeting you, N!" She got up, after having shoved Lil out of her lap and stretched for a second before snatching her satchel.

N failed to hear the disappointment in her voice. He did see the small smile playing around her lips and figured it looked rather nice.

Just like her eyes.

"It was nice indeed", N responded. He, too, got up and then, out of reflex, extended a hand. It was the polite thing to do, Ghetsis had taught him. Plus, she had done the same just earlier.

For a second she regarded it confused before hesitatingly grabbing and shaking it. N couldn't help but notice the swiftness with which she let go of his hand again and the blush forming on her cheeks, just before she turned around and shoved her cap deeper into her face.

"Well, then, see you!"

She didn't turn around anymore and simply waved one last time, before making her way to the counter. She didn't even recall the Lillipup.

Although she was a trainer, he couldn't say he hadn't enjoyed her company. Surely, they'd meet again at some point.

Maybe he should have asked for her VisoCaster contact though, just in case.

**.o.O.o.**

"How have you been on this rather pleasant day?"

Bianca's voice was way too loud for it being this late in the evening. "How do you manage to have this much energy this late?", Touko asked, falling onto her bed. Immediately Lil started using Odor Sleuth on her face and Touko had to shove the curious Pokémon away. She had wanted to recall her, but the Lillipup's eyes had stopped her right in her tracks.

"I don't know...But, I tell you, I saw the strangest Pokémon today! Do you know how on..."

It was a fun story that involved Bianca trying to get into the old, abandoned factory in Striaton City because of something that appeared to be a Munna. She had found a way through the bushes though, so she had to keep guessing.

"I really need one of those, they're just prefect!", the blonde exclaimed. Her face seemed to light up at the idea itself and Touko smiled in response to her friend's happiness. She was glad she was faring this well.

"By the way, how did the battle with Cheren go? Did you beat him?"

"What? Oh. No. I didn't battle him in the first place. I fought some other guy. He's called N. Came up to us after some strange speech given by a total hipster and challenged me."

"Really? that's a pity..."

"Not really. He was pretty nice. Well, not just nice. He was nicer than nice. We talked a bit and it was really fun!", Touko responded, not realizing what she just had done.

And then, suddenly, Bianca's expression started shouting "mischief!".

This was going to be fun.

"Was he good looking though?" Immediately, blood rushed to Touko's cheeks. "What kind of question _is_ that?!", she called out, sitting up in the process, not daring to face her friend anymore.

Her eyes would be giving her away immediately.

"I don't know. You were the one who said "He was nicer than nice" And that it _wasn't_ a pity you got to battle him...Aaaaand I'd love to see a real-life trainer romance un..."

Touko could _hear_ Bianca's grin. She didn't even need to look at her picture in the VisoCaster.

"Arceus, Bianca! It was just a comment..." "You didn't answer my question!"

Touko fell back onto her bed. Whatever. Fighting Bianca at this point didn't make any sense anyway. At least Lil seemed to care about her distress, as the Pokémon walked up to her and lay down next to her, loyal eyes starring into Touko's.

"I don't know. I guess...But he's a great battler, really! He...was amazing! He managed to catch a Pokémon without actually _catching_ it! Can you believe that?! And he was...so clever with everything! You should have been there! And, yeah he was pretty nice too. As I said, we talked for a bit before I picked up Ollie again..."

Bianca's grin widened and her expression became even _more_ mischievous.

"I asked for his _looks_. Not for what makes you attracted to him!" "That's totally not what's hap..." "It would be just like "Star-crossed"!"

Touko rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. Ollie came over too and looked at Bianca, wondering what that weird girl was doing to her trainer. How was Fireball doing, she wondered?

"Just imagine how romantic it would be for you to scoop up a young boy with a dangerous secret, sa..." "You've never even met him before!", Touko interrupted her, but Bianca had already stopped listening. She apparently fell back down onto her bed too, judging from the pictures Touko got from the other side.

Blood rushed to Touko's cheeks and she...kind of smiled. Of course, that was _totally_ not connected to Bianca's assumption.

Sadly, Touko's best friend was rather attentive. "You're smiling!" "What? No, I...I did not! You're just...Oh, go and starve in the wilderness!"

Touko's cheeks now heated up uncontrollably. Why...Ugh, she didn't…

"It's going to be just like "Lost in..." "I'm going to hang up now." Arceus, Bianca's cackling would haunt her for the rest of the night.

And maybe a pair of gray eyes.

**.o.O.o.**

"How was your day, Lord N?"

They, Concordia, Anthea and N, were sitting in a restaurant, dining. Ghetsis hadn't been able to join him as he had needed to attend a meeting with the other six sages. N didn't mind. Eating with his father could be...exhausting at times.

Although it was also highly educational.

"It was nice. I met some people."

He frowned for a second, before he continued. He didn't know why, but he felt unusual shy when thinking about talking about the girl. And he didn't feel shy. Except if he talked to Ghetsis, of course, but Ghetsis was his father after all.

"There was this one trainer with a pair of rather unusual behaving Pokémon. An Oshawott and Lillipup. They...they seemed to genuinely care for her..."

Anthea looked up from her plate, a smile playing around her lips. he hadn't seen her smile like that in ages.

"Her?" "Yes. I...Ghetsis told me about the manipulation of a Pokémon's emotions and will that plays such an essential part in a trainer's job and I know as a fact that this trainer was new and her Pokémon have not yet had the chance to fully realize what they are forced into and which pain they'll have to endure..."

N paused again. Partially to take a breath (he was starting to talk too quickly again) and partially to just feel bad. While he had been with that trainer he had almost forgotten just _what_ it was like for them. By the dragons, her Lillipup had even _said_ it!

"It's just...It was so hard to believe..."

Concordia and Anthea exchanged a glance before Concordia leaned forward, smiling understandingly and said:"My Lord, if I may inquire, how much time did your highness have talking to them? Perhaps this is a simple misunderstanding due to a lack of information, my lord?" N considered this for a few moments, before nodding. A nod soon substituted by another frown. "I talked to their trainer a lot though. Her name is Touko. And she seemed to care too. She wasn't perfect and the way she talked and acted made her out to be a rather unpleasant trainer, but she seemed to care."

She _had_ asked the Oshawott for permission. after all. Also, N couldn't bring himself to dislike her. She seemed nice.

"In this case, my lord, I believe the problem to be solved. I'd say. Your highness merely had not enough time to talk to the Pokémon. You must not worry, my lord. Most humans simply don't realize what they are doing is wrong. That's why we, that's why _you,_ have to show them." Concordia's voice sounded strangely determined.

It reminded him a bit of the girl.

"Talking about conversations. Did the one with the girl lead anywhere, my lord? Did your highness learn something new? You mustn't forget, this mission is about you getting to know your future subjects..." N simply nodded, before realizing his sisters were, if he had to put it Anthea's way, "out for details" and that a simply nod would not be enough.

"Yes, it did. I learned a lot about, especially, humans my age interact with each other and just what this life as a trainer looks like."

Concordia and Anthea both listened attentively.

"She told me about the gym challenge and how she prepared for it – it involved a lot of educational TV-shows apparently – and I got to know the average level of knowledge a starting trainer has."

And then, he came to his conclusion. A very specific conclusion at that.

"In fact, I thought about asking for her contact informat..."

"You did what?", Anthea interrupted him, her face draining. By...Sure, she had picked up him changing his manner of speaking ever so slightly when talking about her but...by….

N looked up, confused. This was...weird. By now he had gotten used to them behaving somewhat distant and Anthea's sudden burst of life felt weird to him now. he tried to not let it irritate him.

"She seemed to be rather knowledgable about various subcultures so I thought exchanging contacts might be helpful with my quest. In addition talking to her was...fun. One could say I thought we might be able to become friends." "Lord N...", Concordia opened her mouth, just to close it again. Anthea, having calmed herself, took over. After all, this was her field of expertise.

 _Friends._ Yeah, sure. Friends. His blush was evident to that.

"My Lord, my apologies for my sudden outburst..." "It really doesn't matter in fact I like it more if..." "...however...You see, in our society asking for somebody's contacts usually hints at a romantic interest in said person. Therefore..."

"Oh, I know."

N seemed to be rather unaffected by his sister's statement, oblivious to the implication. For a second Anthea just stared at him stuffing another piece of salad into his mouth, before closing her mouth. To N this topic was over. To his sisters on the other hand…

"Lord N…" He looked up, confused. Both of them had put their forks aside. He swallowed and put his cutlery aside as well, looking from one woman to another.

"Did I..." "If...there is anything...you know...", Anthea said. She stopped more often than usual, unsure how she was going to phrase this.

It was now that it dawned on N what she was getting at.

He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks.

"What?! No! No, not at all! I...She was just someone I could take to easily and who seemed to be a rather normal human and knowledgeable and not a cruel enslaver and...And therefore she would be a perfect fit for me to learn more and interact with other humans and to expand my knowledge of her world and if this is a problem I will cut any "ties" I have with her immediately, of course!"

His heart started beating faster as his voice sped up and once he was finished, he glued his eyes to his plate. He even stabbed at another piece of salad.

Again, Anthea and Concordia exchanged glances. It took them some time to digest just what N had just said. Sure, she was nice, and sure, she looked pretty and sure, her smile was...well, _beautiful,_ but he'd never...Twindragons, no, he'd never…

"My Lord, if that were the case, we would simply beg you to tell us, as such involvement is rather interesting to us. You can pursue a romantic partner in which..." "There's nothing!" His voice was at least an octave higher. Anthea couldn't help but feel amused by his antics.

Why was he so embarrassed all of sudden? Falling in love was perfectly natural and, by the dragon, he _hadn't_.

The red shade of his cheeks darkened.

She was nice. That was all. Maybe they could become friends.

Hopefully.

"There is nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Though she did havea pretty smile.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope the way the two interact came out the way I wanted, with a mix between wonder/curiosity but also a lot of awkwardness (and both of them crushing, because, you know, this story has to get somewhere after all).
> 
> Also, I start to like Cheren the way he's portrayed in this chapter ^^
> 
> Anyway, I'd love to read your thoughts on this chapter ^^ It'd be really greatful if you guys could leave a comment ^^
> 
> Read you next time!


	6. Firebrick, aquamarine and forestgreen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N felt thoroughly uncomfortable. Everyone was starring at them, there were too many humans in the first place and their smiles were weird. He didn't like the way this gym leader was talking about Pokémon either. N was disgusted by the man’s entire existence. How could he look like this? As if everything was ok.
> 
> -
> 
> "You're...You're a trainer, right?", a shy voice behind her asked. Startled, Touko twirled around only to be faced with an innocent face and sad looking eyes.
> 
> The small girl in front of her seemed to feel very, very uncomfortable, as much was clear. Confused Touko looked around before she dared to respond.
> 
> "Uh...Yeah. Why?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's chapter six ^^ Fun fact, this is were Lil overtook Ollie's position of "My personal favorite" when it comes to Pokémon. I sincerely hope you'll enjoy her development as much as I did writing it and see you at the end!

Too little colours to describe the world  
Chapter 6  
Firebrick, aquamarine and forestgreen

* * *

Touko came rushing out of the gym, holding both Pokéballs in her hands and storming toward the Center at lightning-fast speed. Luckily, it was just around the corner. Judging her own navigation skills there was no way she would have found her way through Striaton City without getting lost and while her team hadn't suffered any major injuries, they did need some medical attention.

The brunette had successfully made her way through Route 2 and had arrived in Striaton City just yesterday. The journey had taken her the recommended amount of time, seven days, and she had put that time to good use, training her team. Obviously she had trained Ollie _just_ a bit more than Lil, but she had tried her best to divide the time as equally as possible And it almost felt as if Lil had understood that, considering she had behaved even more cheerful than usual.

Touko's starter was now roughly around level 12 to 13. On average they evolved on level 17, however it greatly depended on the specific Pokémon and how ready _they_ felt. Somehow, thinking about this made the girl think about that one other trainer and what he had said.

Pff. As if Pokémon didn't get to say anything!

Lil was around level 10-11. She had learned Bite and Baby-Doll eyes in the process and Touko felt confident that they would beat the first gym with ease. After just a bit more training, and, of course after getting more Intel on the gym leaders. In fact her flying out of the gym marked her first try. She had just been beaten which was normal. Usually you didn't win on your first try, not even against the first gym and especially not now that the League had employed this new kind of gym, testing new trainers even if they found themselves at a strategic disadvantage. And then there were the usually measure to make sure every trainer was thrown into those battles with as little knowledge as possible. They took down wikis, made sure very gym leader had several teams to use, depending on the level of their opponents and then there was the league's general recommendation to go in blind. Especially if your goal was to take on the Elite Four eventually – it wasn't even known which types they specialized on (though most members were easy guesses).

Of course, Touko could have prepared herself anyway – there were no rules against it - and maybe, just _maybe_ , she should have done that, but then again, she preferred to just _do_ things. And now that she had had her first battle, she knew what to worry about. Not that there was much to worry about in the first place. The only uncalculated thing had been Lil's weird behavior during that battle, when faced with the opposing Lillipup. So far she had never minded battling other Lillipup, but this one in particular had irritated hers.

Touko didn't have to worry about Cheren's stupid bet anymore either. His school had asked him to help them introduce the new class to the school and tell him a bit about his gym battle, seeing as he was still around. Considering said school sponsored his journey, Cheren hadn't really been able to refuse their request. Plus, Touko suspected him to quite enjoy this "job", judging from the massive grin he spotted when he had told her about his first day.

Other than that, not much was going on. Striaton City wasn't all that impressive, not anymore. She had been here plenty of times, be it to go shopping or to welcome back her father once he had decided to head home once more. And of course he had always chosen to dine at the gym. What other option could _he_ possibly choose (though, Touko had to admit, the food could be worse and she secretly enjoyed eating there as much as he did).

But that didn't matter. Right now she had to heal her Pokémon, decide on strategy and, most importantly, she had a meeting with Bianca. She was really looking forward to seeing her friend in person again. Probably, because she wouldn't dare to poke fun at her when Touko was standing right next to her.

.

.o.O.o.

.

It was amusing how much he had missed places like these, N contemplated while he was strolling through Route 2. He had never really noticed, his education had kept him busy, but he had. In fact, N missed them more than he'd like to admit and more than his father would allow. And though it wasn't Zorua who was accompanying him right now through his strolls across the land, he didn't mind Shiny Marble at all.

These silent places allowed him to stop analysing things – he didn't have to, after all. He knew this. He had lived in a place like this. This was more of a home to him than anything else. He could sit down and think and rest and relax. It was nice. It was a bit strange, after all those years of necessary confinement to his castle, but it was nice and he simply couldn't get enough.

N had met with few other people so far, as he was still trying to analyse the conversation he had had with that girl Touko. Humans were fascinating, really. It was rather amusing to see how easily one could manipulate them.

Other than that, N was working on his team. He had offered Shiny Marble to leave him, but she had decided to stay around for the time being. It wasn't like they were leaving the area after all and really, there was no way she was going to leave until she hadn't gotten her hands on that one shiny trinket of his...N was still looking for more members, but he wasn't in a hurry. He knew his father wanted him to finish the gym challenge as fast as possible, but N preferred to enjoy his newfound freedom and the possibility to talk to so many _free_ Pokémon.

He still resented the fact Team Plasma used them in battles too.

Oh well, it was a necessary evil.

Other than wanting to enjoy his freedom, he didn't want to pressure any Pokémon into joining him and he felt just by asking them he didn't leave them any other choice than to say "Yes". They were much more open and friendly to a human than he had expected after all, however N suspected this may be because of his natural gift. And he felt like they treated him like an exotic curiosity at times. Not that he minded. He loved being loved by Pokémon.

N and Shiny Marble were taking another walk (he had let her out of her ball the moment he had gotten her back) and she was pointing out the Pokémon-own landmarks of Route 2. There were plenty to be seen.

"Burnt tree because of battle. I was there. It was fun!" "Old stone best place for a nap!" "This place beautiful! We call it flower palace!" A sudden feeling of joy, joy only sparked by happy childhood memories, washed over N and he had to admit, he liked the flower palace much more than his own. It was missing the clear cut pattern that he enjoyed so much, but even in a place like this one could still find countless mathematical precision. Be it the simple Fibonacci sequence.

Shiny Marble kept pointing out places they had to look at until, at some point, she seemed to grow weary of it. She kept glancing at him and once in a while a half finished thought tucked at N's brain, but he never really understood what exactly she was trying to say. It was...it just didn't make sense…

It took Shiny Marble some time to realize that, although this human could communicate with her much more conscious, he still wasn't the most clever Reuniclus there was. She had to try a more direct approach.

"When will we train?" "What?" N halted, looking at the small Pokémon strolling along next to him in confusion. Had he understood her correctly? "Train. To beat the gym. You're a trainer, right?" It took N a split second to realize what Shiny Marble was hinting at, but once he did, he lost his usual calm composure. Nervously, N chuckled as he scratched his neck. Had he really given off the impression of being a trainer?

Well. He _had_ made her battle against that girl. Thinking about it, he was just as guilty of not asking for permission as Touko had been.

"You're...I mean, I'm not a trainer…" "You're not? But you are." He bit his lip, only to stop moments later, as he envisioned his father's disapproving expression. "Uh...Well...No, I mean...It doesn't matter..." N decided to let the topic rest. Technically speaking he _was_ a trainer. Or, well, he was supposed to be one. So far they hadn't really done any training, like Shiny Marble had just pointed out. But he wasn't going to stay a trainer forever! And the reason he did this was to ensure it _stopped_ happening! So he wasn't _really_ a trainer. He'd never make a Pokémon do something against their will!

It didn't matter though. Not right now. He had to train, she was right, and for that, they'd need a sparring partner. Ghetsis had taught him that having faux-battles were the best way to train, as you trained two Pokémon at the same time in the very discipline they were supposed to excel in. And while N did not like the fact that Pokémon were reduced to battle machines, for the next few years he had to accept it.

"Do you know any place where we might find another partner? Do you know someone who might be interested in helping us?", he asked, shifting the topic of discussion. Sensing her request had brought him to his senses, Shiny Marble happily helped out.

“The grotto?", was all she had to offer though, as N refused to take the normal paths all those other trainers took. Usually, if one had any intention of partnering with humans or fighting them, you'd go there, but if anything, her human wasn't usual. In fact, her trainer was rather weird. But then again – all humans were.

.

.o.O.o.

.

They got to the hidden grotto in no time at all. They had been close by after all. N recognized some of the Pokémon and happily greeted them enjoying being able to talk to them again. At some point he met the helpful Patrat that had shown him the way to this secret hideout, which eagerly ran up to him, demanding some food. Luckily, N always brought plenty of berries with him, so that didn't pose a problem. The only "problem" was, that said Patrat had no interest in joining him. He had to help his family after all.

N asked around some more, going deeper and deeper, until at some point, there weren't any Pokémon that he hadn't asked already.

Well, that wasn't the full truth. He hadn't asked any of the more mature Pokémon just yet, but he didn't want to. He...It felt wrong, N decided. It was only when Shiny Marble got annoyed by her trainers reluctance that he was practically forced to do so.

The Purrloin simply marched up to one of the Watchog lunging around and them commanded it to follow her. Feeling rather curious, the Watchog obeyed. It had heard rumours of this weird human that prowled the area and had wanted to see for himself anyway. And this nervous looking trainer looked just like the right human.

"Human, human, what do you want?" N gulped when the Watchog stood in front of him and although it only communicated curiosity, he felt just a tad bit intimidated. It was a bit taller than usually, so maybe that was it. Or maybe it was simply it's hypnotizing stare. "Uh..." Why was he nervous? He wasn't  _ supposed  _ to be nervous. Twindragon, he was a  _ king _ ! And it wasn't like Pokémon didn't like him!

"The Purrloin said you need a Pokémon for training?" What, no! By the original dragon, he had to snap out of whatever this was. He was nervous, sure, but he had to talk and ask. And plus, even if it was cheating the system, he hadn't trained the Pokémon after all and it was just naturally strong, he was doing it for a just cause!

"May..." N cleared his throat and fixed his collar, before continuing his speech. He was talking to a Pokémon. He had done that all his life and it was totally normal.

"May I ask you for assistance? To master the local gym? It'd be for four battles only, so not all that much and they should be rather easy and really, I just require a bit of help, but if you don't want to help I fully understand and…"

"Sure. Sure", the Watchog simply replied.

This human was weird.

Again, N simply halted after hearing this answer. What..? It...It hadn't even asked for his goals! Why would it... "You...You agree? Just like that?" N frowned. He had expected some sort of disagreement. After all he was asking the Watchog to fight a battle he wasn't affected by at all. Surely it wouldn't want to hurt itself just for human entertainment, right?

"Challenge. I like challenge! I will help you. Sure. Sure." And then the Watchog walked up to N and snatched the Pokéball right out of his hand, effectively catching itself.

N was still a bit dumbfounded, even after the third click had long rung out.

.

.o.O.o.

.

When Touko arrived at the placed Bianca and she had agreed to meet at (in the park just on the outskirts of Striaton City), the brunette could already spot her best friend. And of course, she wasn't alone. Instead, she was talking to some boy.

Or rather flirting.

The blonde just always managed to get someone to adore her. Poor boy, because the second Bianca spotted her best friend, she was on her feet calling a few hasty words of goodbye, before ignoring the flabbergasted boy that was still half leaning on the friable, knee-high wall.

"You...You know, you could have taken your time to properly say goodbye...", Touko said. She narrowly escaped her best friends attempt of suffocating her and now _safely_ hugged the girl. 

"What? Oh, I told him I'm waiting for someone and that I'd have to leave abruptly...And, since when do you care about the "proper way" anyway?"

Touko looked over her friends shoulder. The boy was still standing there. She felt kinda bad for him, but then again – not really.

"I already gave him my number and I'll call him up once you're gone...You can't be the only one getting a boyfriend on this journey after all", the blonde teased, only getting a huff from Touko, before she snatched her friends arm.

"Lets go! What did you have in mind anyway?"

"A battle?"

Bianca snickered. Of course. What else could it possibly have been?

.

.o.O.o.

.

They decided to go back all the way to Route 2 for their planned battle. They wasted to have a nice battle with a nice scenery and you weren't allowed to battle in the park (for obvious reasons considering what Touko's room had looked like after something that wasn't even a _real_ battle). Touko's glance was way too determined and strict for the occasion and Bianca was shaking from excitement and happiness.

Her screeching was almost louder than that of a Swoobat.

The battle itself was rather quick, although it had been...more fun than the one with that other guy. It had been more relaxed. Half the time they hadn't even really battled and it had been more of a wrestling match between their Pokémon accompanied by a lot of laughing.

Their Pokémon seemed to enjoy it too. They weren't even really exhausted after the battle and just sat in the grass, chattering to each other with something qualifying as smiles on their faces. Touko even let Lil out of her ball to spend some quality time with her fellow Pokémon and the two girls quickly realized there was some _serious_ chemistry going on between her and Oinky.

"She's cute though", Bianca remarked:"Maybe I'll get myself one too..."

At some point they decided to declare Touko as the winner. She accepted it and jokingly decided Bianca now owned her price money, to which Bianca simply responded she'd gladly invite her best friend to a milkshake. So, eventually, they ended up back in Striaton City, sitting outside a Café, chatting about various things. It was relaxing up until the point that Bianca decided to be sneaky.

"Sooooo…"

The way the blonde drawled those words should have warned Touko, but Touko was, well, Touko.

"You're sure you're going to meet that N guy of yours again at some point?"

"Sure, he's a trainer after a...Oh, come on! It was one battle!"

Already, Touko could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Who was that boy I caught you earlier with anyway?", she grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her. Ollie was not amused by this, as her trainer's arms were firmly set above her ears and any stretching was now impossible.

"Julian? Oh, yeah, so, that's a fun story..." Grumbling, Ollie tried to tackle her trainers arms away which resulted in her quickly _not_ sitting on Touko's lap anymore at all.

Her mood worsened.

"...so yeah, we talked a bit after the whole Accumula Town incident and..." Touko was attentively listening to her friend's tale, but she couldn't bear her starters stares and before long, she interrupted her best friend's story.

"Oh, come on, Ollie! I'm not your personal pillow! You can sit on a chair like Lil!"

Well, Lil wasn't sitting on her chair anymore. At first Touko had let her stay on the floor, but she had felt bad for her second Pokémon – especially because Ollie was allowed to stay on her lap. But putting two Pokémon in her lap...Well...No. So, another chair it was, until Lil had decided that Bianca had a lap too and had jumped onto the blonde. Right now she was contently snoring and getting a massage.

Lil really liked Bianca. The girl was nice. She was glad her trainer was friends with her.

But Ollie wasn't having it. She crossed her arms before demanding to be put back into her Pokéball for a lack of a better option. It took the girls a solid five minutes to figure out what the Oshawott was trying to say, but once the Pokémon had disappeared, the girl resumed their conversation.

"So yeah, his name is Julian. He usually spends his time at the Dreamyard. According to him it's a nice place to train, although there aren't that many wild Pokémon. In the part you can get into, that is. I wonder if there is a way to get through the bushes...He did hint at something like that…"

"Yeah, maybe I'll check it out at some point...I bet there are a bunch of amazing and rare Pokémon back there! But, anyway. So. This Julian guy…"

"You're not telling, so neither am I! But I am stoked to hear how your first battle with Cilan went…"

At the picture of a young man with slateblue hair Lil woke up with a startle. She pressed her ears to her head. She didn't like that man. He was strong. But Touko was too busy explaining all her strategies to her friend to notice the sudden surge of fear running through the young Pokémon's body.

She didn't like what her trainer was saying one bit.

.

.o.O.o.

.

"I have found the team that will take on the first gym, father", N reported faithfully. He was standing in his father's room, proper and tense like always, waiting for his father's reaction. It was cold and a soft breeze made it's way through the room, causing N to shiver. Ghetsis was eating and only slowly turned to face his son, an expression akin to annoyance on his face. His posture seemed to be at odds with his words and voice, causing a dissonance within the whole situation, a familiar feeling for N. However, judging by hist father's mimic and gestures he wasn't in a necessarily bad mood, though N had yet to come up with a fitting formula for his father's behaviour – there was something he just kept missing.

"Did you? That is great news! Have you already won the first badge?"

For a second N was tempted to bite his lip when he heard his father say "you", implying that _he_ would do anything, but he didn't.

Such behaviour wasn't appropriate for the likes of him.

"No, father", he said, although he had to restrain himself from clenching his teeth. He knew his father wouldn't like this news. Just as predicted there was this slight shift in Ghetsis manner and his expression darkened. Analysing the situation N still didn't believe himself in imminent danger of punishment.

"Are you clenching your teeth, son?"

Ghetsis sharp voice made N shudder. He shook his head and tried to calm himself. What was he afraid of? This man was his father!

But then again...N knew exactly what he was afraid of.

"No, father…"

"What was that?"

Now the sage fully turned, his attention resting on N.

"No, father!"

Ghetsis huffed and turned back.

"Of course you haven't. Really, what did I expect...Tell me, why is it that you're taking this long? Has your education taught you nothing?"

There was...a strange absence of any sharpness from the sage's voice.

It sounded, in fact, disappointed.

He had _disappointed_ his _father_. He was right, he had learned so much about everything and he _knew_ everything and yet he still needed a random girl to educate him on the basics and he still wasn't able if he was…

A sigh interrupted his spiralling thoughts.

"Tell me, Natural, what keeps you from challenging them?"

His father's voice now sounded so much softer and allowed N to relax a bit. Not much, but a bit.  
He had tensed up again upon hearing his full name – he had always thought he'd prefer his full name over the nickname Anthea and Concordia had bestowed upon him, but clearly he had been wrong judging from his earlier experience.

"I...I'm not sure. They're gym leaders and thus…

"They're not real gym leaders", Ghetsis interrupted him.

N felt insulted by his father's sudden interruption, but he didn't mention it, as, although he was taught interrupting people was rude, he understood why one would do it – plus, Ghetsis was his father.

The sage put his fork aside and sternly looked at his son again, a bitter expression in his eyes and for a second it seemed to N as if he was reminiscent about his past once more.

"Their only advantage is using new trainer's limited access to a variety of Pokémon and use their weaknesses, although they do that rather effectively...I'm getting off topic. On their own, they are, simply put, pathetic. There is now reason to worry."

N winced when he heard his father's harsh words. But then again, why would he mind? Those three _were_ pathetic. They were trainers. They were gym leaders! They used Pokémon for their own entertainment and gain! They made them battle and serve and they didn't seem to feel on ounce of shame for this!

"I assume you won't keep that... _ Watchog  _ of yours for long?"

Ghetsis sudden change of topic didn't confuse N anymore. By now he was used to it, as his father didn't like spending time talking about nothing. Maybe that's why N enjoyed the Goddesses company so much.

And why he had thought the conversation with Touko so refreshing.

"No, father. I was planning on letting Reddest Eyes go once I move on to the next city. I don't want to remove him from his natural habitat for too long."

"Hmph. You'll eventually have to built steadfast team", Ghetsis pointed out.

N thought it better to not respond to this, as his father's response was evidently not an invitation to an open discussion.  
N's silence seemed to almost amuse Ghetsis, but then he suddenly called out:

"Retienne!"

Seemingly out of thin air one of the shadow triad members materialized at an instant.  
Her voice was rough and coarse when she spoke and even more devoid of any emotion than N's whenever he had the pleasure to talk to is father. She gave him the chills, as one could say, for no reason at all and N sincerely felt sorry for his unexplained cold feelings toward them.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Did you catch the required Pokémon?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Very well. Please hand them over."

N shifted uncomfortably while listening to this short exchange. Ghetsis had turned back to his dinner. Retienne now faced N.

N shifted even more. But there was no escaping it and he knew the woman wasn't evil. In fact, she was a loyal servant to his family and they would be forever indebted to them.

Though, he didn't necessarily like their methods.

Having experienced her in a less formal setting so far really was a stark contrast to her usual demeanour. Regardless of what N thought of the ninja though, she walked towards him and held out three Pokéballs.

"I've taken liberty to let them catch three Pokémon for you, knowing you'd need some extra security. A Pidove, a Blitzle and a Goldeen. Regardless of which of the gym leaders will face you, you are prepared. That's all, Retienne."

"Yes, my lord."

The woman pushed the three Pokéballs into N's hand and then she disappeared again, as quickly as she had come.

"The same goes for you, my lord. My I ask for your permission to finish my dinner?"

His father's question snapped N back to reality, while he was focusing the three Pokéballs in his hand.

Oh. Right. _He_ was supposed to be the king. He had almost forgotten.

"Of course, f...Sage Ghetsis."

.

.o.O.o.

.

It was judgment day. Touko had trained. She had trained hard and she was going to win this battle, she was sure of it. Confidence accompanied her every step as she made her way into the arena once more.

She'd have to face Cilan once more and while his Pansage was pretty strong, she was sure she'd be able to counter it with Lil.

The last time she had opened her battle using Lil, as Ollie was still stronger and she didn't want to sent her ace out straight away, however he had used his Lillipup first too and it even ended knocking out Lil.

It was a pity you weren't allowed to switch out Pokémon in official battles.

Afterwards his Panpour had made easy work of Ollie. However, this strategy was easily countered by training a bit and sending out Ollie first, to take care of his Lillipup. After that, she'd surely be able to finish his last Pokémon using the combined power of Ollie and Lil. It was easy, really. When it came to a more refined strategy...well...It wasn't like one had many options. She'd simply had to make sure he didn't get to use "Work Out" by constantly keeping him busy. There really wasn't anything else to do. They had to keep him busy.

She rushed trough the restaurant, following the endless sea of signs pointing the way to the gym part.

Oh, how often had she walked down this pathway! Whenever her father had come to visit and they had inevitably ended up at this restaurant, she had stolen those five short minutes just to stare at the entrance.

Every. Time.

This time though, she didn't even shoot as much as a passing glance at it.

Touko had  _ wanted  _ to show up five minutes earlier. Really. Really, really, really.  
But then she had gotten too nervous and had started to jog around and eat too much and had generally been a pain to the public until it was almost too late.

She wasn't just rushing because of her excitement. This time the battle counted. She _had_ to win it.  
Panting, she arrived at the front desk, smashing her Trainer-ID onto the table and throwing the maid sitting behind the counter a smile.

Touko envied the woman. She was living the dream. Surrounded by capable trainers, battling and being with her Pokémon all day. Really, the brunette couldn't wait to finish her gym challenge so she could start her life as, well more than a boring clerk of some sort.  
She simply wasn't made to sit behind a computer all day and type down stuff or stare at some moving pictures.

Unlike other people.

The maid put her phone away, throwing an annoyed glance at her Audino, and took Touko's ID-card. Then she looked at it. Next, she threw Touko a glance. Again, she looked at the ID again. Touko's heart beat accelerated. The woman squinted her eyes. Then she shrugged and looked at the screen in front of her. _Finally_ she passed the card back to Touko, already awaiting it and murmured a "You're two minutes late, kiddo. Cilan's waitin'"

And then she took out her phone again, her Audino leaning over to see what was going on too.  
They were probably watching battles, preparing for their next fight.

Touko's hands got all sweaty and she almost dropped her ID (well, actually she  _ did  _ drop it, but she never told anyone), and then she made her way to the battlefield. Proudly (as proudly one could while panting and having flushed cheeks) she walked past all the trainers she had already beaten. It was time for her to get her very first badge after all!

Cilan was already waiting for her. He was standing on the other side of the field, looking rather bored, however his posture changed ever so slightly once she arrived.

"Oh, hey! I'm glad you came!", he called out. Touko simply nodded as response, still short on breath. Her eyes flickered to the two men standing behind her opponent, his brothers. They seemed to be arguing about something – well, Chili was arguing. His brother was calmly standing next to him. Touko chuckled to herself.

"Um...Do you need a drink? Something refreshing? You look a…"

"What? No!", Touko interrupted him, defensively throwing her arms up. Arceus, no. No more delays please.

"Really? You're still panting and today we don't really have all that many challengers, so..."  
He looked behind him, where his brother Cress was standing. Them being three and all made things much easier. They could simply rotate and therefore they could accept more battles. It was one of the reasons the league had chosen the three of them – to bulk the massive amount of trainers that all started out at the same time.

And this particular one should probably be given some time to…

"No, no, no! Really. I'm…"

Touko took in a deep breath.

"I'm ready. Totally. I can do this."

She shot him a smile before taking on her battle stance (her mom had told her it looked ridiculous, but her mom was also 45 years old). For a moment, Cilan looked at her confused, before shrugging and loudly declaring:

"Hereby I accept your challenge! May the better team win!"

And then the battle was on.

x

He sent out his first Pokémon, his Lillipup. No surprises there. Just like Touko had planned: Ollie was released from her ball and after a short second of contemplating she had already scrambled back to Touko, trying to get into the PokèBall.

No. She knew this place. There was _no_ way she was going to fight that man again.

"What? No! Ollie! Get back onto the…"

Cilan chuckled while he watched the scene unfold. His Lillipup was sitting loyally next to him. There was nothing extraordinary about this.

It was funny nonetheless.

"I swear", Touko grumbled, as she dragged her starter back to the battlefield. Then she took her own position again, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"Sorry", she said, but Cilan simply shrugged it off.

"Ahem...Well then..! Wor…"

"WATER GUN!"

Touko's voice simply drowned out his voice, much to his surprise. The first time she had been just...less loud? This was unusual, he had taught her to be a normal trainer…

The first gush of water hit the Normal-Type Pokémon full on. It shrieked (the water was soooo cold!") and jumped back. Why hadn't his trainer said something? Well. He probably had to use "Raising". So he did. It didn't take long for his body to surge with energy. Now all he had to do was wait for another attack...and of course, evade the next Water Gun aimed at him!  
He jumped out of the way just on time. Again, he hadn't heard his trainer say anything else and again he prepared himself for an attack. Anytime soon…

"WATER GUN!"

Arceus, she had come up with a better strategy than just spamming "Water Gun". At least she hit this time. But...what else was she supposed to do?! That stupid gym leader didn't even _do_ anything!  
Now, Cilan was sweating. He...well, he wasn't used to shouting. And really, he was a ne…

"Oh, come on! Just shout already!", Chili screamed, focusing his anger on his other brother. Cilan jerked, but then realized that his brother was right and finally,  _ finally _ , dared to raise his voice.

It took Touko by surprise.

The Tackle was a critical hit. Touko watched in horror, as her starter fell backwards. In her mind, it looked worse. _Far_ worse. She already saw her getting thrown across the battlefield, smashing into the walls and...Oh. She had only stumbled back a bit. Still, Touko really wanted to run onto the battlefield to comfort the Oshawott. However she couldn't. The fight was still going on.

"WE GOT THIS, OLLIE! GO! WATER GUN!"

The Water-Pokémon wanted to cry. This sucked. The beginning had been fun – getting to shoot water at someone was _always_ fun – but the other Pokémon attacking _her_ wasn't. But then again, at least it wasn't some stupid Plant-attack…Oh yeah, she should probably attack. Just, it was a tad too late now.

She jumped aside just on time to evade another Tackle thrown at her and nicely awaited her trainer's order. Although, if she'd use Tail Whip right now…

"WATER GUN!"

According to  Touko’s  own makeshift calculations, one Water Gun was all they needed to take out the Lillipup and then she could…

Ollie got hit by another Tackle while preparing the Water-attack. Really, the two Pokémon were standing way too close for her to have a realistic chance and while the Tackle wasn't a critical hit this time – it was powered up by those Work Ups.

For a second, Touko didn't really do much. She just stared at her starter, laying on the floor, biting her lips, waiting for her to getup. Just to realize she  _ wasn't  _ going to get up. She was laying unconscious on the floor, but only when the announcer declared Ollie defeated, she finally understood what that meant.

Hastily, she took out the PokéBall and recalled Ollie, wondering what to do next. Cilan was still standing on the other side of the battlefield, his Lillipup was still energized – though, it looked a bit ruffled up and when looking closer…

"Does the challenger want to sent in a second Pokémon?"

It was a stupid question – of course. But rules were rules.

"Yes", Touko declared, firmly. Her voice wasn't shaking one bit, although she was still holding on to her starter's ball. No. She could do this. Lil could easily take out two Pokémon. The jolly Pokémon was strong enough to pull that off. One Tackle was all that they needed.

"GO, LIL!"

The moment the white light vanished, Lil started jumping around the gym as if she were a rather fluffy rubber ball. For a moment she stopped, recognizing the place she had been sent out in. But then she noticed her opponent – and all was well.

The opposing Lillipup was defeated easily indeed. One Tackle. Lil didn't even take damage, out speeding its opponent without breaking a sweat all the while happy declaring this the best day of her life. She remembered the Lillipup from their last encounter – back then, he had be stronger than her. Really, she hadn't wanted to fight them, it was pointless after all. Why fight a battle you were sure to lose? That didn't make sense. But her trainer had seemed to be sold on the idea. Hadn't she seen the difference in strength? But she had been proven right – fighting a stronger opponent  _ was  _ indeed useless. At least this one Lilipup hadn't been as strong anymore. And after all that was all there was to fight, right? And she had won! Won, won, won!

The moment Cilan send out his Pansage her happy mood shattered.

It was bubbling with energy, not unlike Lil. Except it was stronger. Definitely stronger. And she was already weakened. But she didn't have to fight him, right? Right? That surely was Ollie's job, right? After all, Ollie  _ was  _ stronger than her...She glanced at her trainer, who in return just looked at her with this fierce and dete…

Oh no.

Oh, no, no, no.

Slowly, Lil backed away. Didn't her trainer notice the difference in strength?

Touko did, in fact,  _ not  _ know about the difference in strength. One wasn't allowed to use the level-scanner build into most PokéDexes (even the not so fancy ones most kids got – her knowing the professor was rather advantageous), as the gym challenge was supposed to teach you stuff. And one of those things were to properly judge a Pokémon's strength without having to rely on modern technology.

Obviously, Touko had ignored this little fact and had simply rushed into every battle, without even trying to asses her opponent's strength. So far it had worked out after all, right?

Lil stood in the middle of the battlefield, shivering. Touko noticed, but she judged the situation wrongly – surely it was because of her excitement, right? After all, she was about to win her first gym badge!

The announcer did her job, telling the few people watching which Pokémon had been send into battle and then the fight was on again – or so Touko thought.

The moment Cilan's Pansage made a move, Lil decided there was no use. It was strange, really. So far she had never weaker than her opponents – she had never been faced with his problem. But it was just like her family again – she could battle everyone, but she'd never challenge her oldest brother.

And thus, Lil pressed her stomach to the ground, her ears laying flat on her eyes and she slowly backed away.

"What..?"

What was going on? What was Lil doing? Was it a new move? But Lillipup's weren't supposed to learn...

Cilan sighed, when he looked at the confused girl in front of him. He wanted to tell her about what exactly was going on, but he couldn't just walk across the battlefield, right? Right? Was that the right thing to do for a gym leader? Oh well. She was just another trainer. She'd have to figure out things by herself, if she wanted to be successful. Or so his brothers always said.

He shot a glance at his brother's, who were simply shaking their heads. New trainers could be rather amusing at times.

"THE CHALLENGER'S SECOND POKÉMON IS UNABLE TO FIGHT. HEREBY I DECLARE GYM LEADER CILAN AS WINNER!"

.

.o.O.o.

.

"You're fighting style is..rather unique, I'd say!", Cress congratulated N, after his second Pokémon had been finished off as easily as his first. By the same Watchog at that. He couldn't believe the boy had trained at Patrat all the way to level 20 just for the first gym.

Well. Endurance paid off, after all.

"You can recall your Pokémon now!", the gym leader added. He knew though the boy, N was it, right?, wasn't going to. He had already shown up with his entire team outside their confinement which had caused quite some trouble. Though he seemed to have an unexpectedly good grip on them – without even talking. It was amazing, really. Cress wouldn't be surprised if this one would make it.

Meanwhile N felt thoroughly uncomfortable. Everyone was starring at them, there were too many humans in the first place and their smiles were weird.  H e didn't like the way this  _ gym leader  _ was talking about Pokémon  either .  N was disgusted by the man’s entire existence. How could he look like this? As if everything was ok.  H ow dare he smile at him like this after his Pokémon had just been...brutally been defeated

N led his hang low. By the original dragon, he felt terrible. And being in the company of someone he truly and utterly despised didn't help at all.

"I'd prefer to keep Reddest Eyes outside of _his_ _confinement._ "

He didn't dare to look directly at the gym leader. He wanted to leave. Badly.

"Well, I won't force you. They're yours, treat them however you want"; Cress simply added, before handing over the badge.

N hardly noticed.

Only seven more badges. Only seven more.

  
  


.

.o.O.o.

.

  
  


Touko felt broken. Utterly broken.

She had been supposed to  _ win _ .

But she had failed.

With teary eyes she stared at the two Pokéballs in her hand. And at the VisoCaster in her other.  
What was she supposed to do now? You weren't supposed to need three times to win. There wasn't much known about the Elite 4, however everyone knew they had made it first try. So had the champion. So had Cheren.

Heck, so had her dad!

Touko had ignored Bianca's calls that had come in fairly soon after she had lost. Of course her friend had watched. Of course she had seen her lose.

Bianca herself would probably only need two tries too.

The brunette was sitting on the outskirts of Striaton Town. She had left the gym, barely concentrating on what was going on around her.

Arceus. She had lost. It hadn't even been close!

She had made her way around town, aimlessly wandering round, wondering what had gone wrong – well, she knew what had gone wrong. Ollie hadn't been able to beat the Lillipup. And Lil had refused to fight his Pansage.  
Both of those things could have been prevented is she had been a better trainer. But apparently, she wasn't a good trainer.

Eventually she had found a place to sit down. Eventually her mind had cleared. Eventually she had decided she owned her Pokémon an apology. After all, she had failed _them_ too. So she called them out of their Pokéballs, not daring to look at them, frantically biting her lip.

Ollie seemed to be fairly unimpressed by all the things that were going on. Sure, she seemed to be worried about her trainer at first, but upon noticing there wasn't an imminent danger she quickly lost interest. After all, she had been forced to fight. Of course, she didn't mind it all that much anymore – as long as she  _ won _ .

Lil on the other hand...She didn't even  _ move  _ upon being released from her Pokéball. Instead she just sat in the grass, not looking at anything particular. It was unsettling. Almost as unsettling as seeing her slowly back down.

Lil wasn't sure what to think. Should she have fought? Probably. But it...It wouldn't have made any sense! She wouldn't have won anyway! Surely her trainer knew...but then that meant she had been sent into a battle just to be knocked out! Trainer...trainer wouldn't do that, right? Right?

She didn't want to know.

Touko didn't really know what she was supposed to do. She wasn't even sure what she was supposed to feel. She...She was...She wasn't  _ mad  _ or anything, but…But...ugh.

She let herself fall back. And obviously, her head hit the bench

Arceus she shouldn't have done. She _really_ shouldn't have done that.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuwww"

She shot right back up, successfully catching her two Pokémon's attention. Confused Ollie hoped onto her lap, examining her face and than paying closer attention to Touko's hand, rubbing her head.  
Lil shot up too, being ripped away from her unhappy thoughts with an even unhappier reality. Trainer had been hurt! What was wrong?!

The moment Touko saw her Pokémon's loyal eyes, her arm fell into her lap. She sighed. Her eyes focused on everything but her Pokémon and Lil lay down again, her ears flat on her head, her tail not wagging happily like it usually did. She had disappointed her trainer, hadn't she? She should have just…

"Hey...Hey, Lil...it's...It's ok. Don't worry."

Touko had gotten up from her bench and now knelt in front of Lil, trying her best to give her a convincing smile.  
  
  


"It's...after all it's..."  
  
  


The girl stopped. Her eyes shied away from the Lillipup, looking at her with hopeful eyes while desperately trying to block of the thoughts Touko was sending out. Her trainer wasn't saying that, right? She didn't actually think it was her fault, right?  
  
  


"After all, it's just a gym battle..!"  
Touko's voice was a mere whisper. And of course, Lil didn't understand her. Instead all she saw were the girl's feelings of utter despair.

The brunette got up. Bit her lip. Well. So much for a nice prep talk.

"So...we're close to the Dreamyard. Maybe we can train a bit there, what do you guys think? After all, we'll have to get stronger, right?"

  
  


.

.o.O.o.

.

  
  


Touko and her team spent quite some time in the Dreamyard. In fact she even managed to accept one of Bianca's calls. She even figured out why Lil had refused to fight. Apparently Lillipup didn't fight opponents evidently stronger than them. Some kind of hierarchy thing. But at least it meant all they had to do was train, right?

So, train they did. Or at least Lil did. Ollie was in no mood to do so. And while it was annoying from a trainer's perspective, it did cheer Touko up a bit. This felt...normal. After two hours or so at least. Sure, she had failed. Sure, it sucked. But she wasn't going to let that bring her down! And how often had her dad tried to beat the eight gym in Kanto again? Of course, that was a biiiiiit different, but if her oh so amazing dad was allowed to fail, so was she.

And Ollie reminded her of the fact, that really, nothing had changed. They were still the same people. And that was simply some stupid gym. Plus, she had all the time in the world! She didn't need to beat anything in a year! She could take however long she wanted!

Right now they were taking a stroll through the depths of Dreamyard. Well, not really. They couldn't access the actual factory grounds. But still. They were having fun. In fact, after a few more hours, when the sun was slowly setting, Touko had already practically forgotten about her former disappointment and so had her team. They were training like usual, laughing, doing stupid things, being a general nuisance and it was probably that what attracted the attention of someone else.

"You're...You're a trainer, right?", a shy voice behind her asked. Startled, Touko twirled around only to be faced with an innocent face and sad looking eyes.

The small girl in front of her seemed to feel very, _very_ uncomfortable, as much was clear. Confused Touko looked around before she dared to respond.

"Uh...Yeah. Why?"

She recalled Lil out of instinct (and because everyone seemed to do that) without even noticing the Pokémon's disappointed expression.

"I...Well…"

The girl stopped. She didn't seem to be very convinced of whatever plan she had in mind, but then again, whatever it was, it seemed to be rather depressing.

"I have a favor to ask...", she eventually said, still not really facing Touko. Her eyes were glued to the ground and she was holding something behind her back. Touko could have easily glanced behind her, but that just felt disrespectful.

"It's...I have a Pokémon, but it doesn't...Well, we don't necessarily...We don't get along all too well..."

The girl still didn't look at her but something about what she was saying cut deep. It hurt her on a very personal level.

"I…"

The girl took a deep breath. Touko still hadn't said a thing.

"Could you...Could it become part of your team? If not, that's ok, it's just, maybe...It deserves better than being unhappy!"

Finally the girl's hands appeared and she extended one, holding a normal Pokémon. The Pokéball wasn't shaking one bit. Touko looked at it, dumbfounded. What..? What was going on?

"I'm...I'm not a trainer and...well...It's just...I don't know what I'm doing wrong! It just, well, doesn't seem to  _ like  _ me and seeing you and your Lillipup...Maybe it wants to become part of a team, you know?"

There was a hopeful glimmer in the girl's eyes Touko couldn't help but feel touched by. Although she still wasn't really sure what to make out of the whole situation.

She looked at the girl's extended hand, her eyes focusing on the Pokéball clutched by trembling fingers.

"I called him  Emblitz .  I-I thought it sounded cool... "  
Now the girl was on the verge on tears. Wait. Did she…? She wanted to just give her a Pokémon? Why would...What..?

"I...I…

"Hey...Hey, don't cry!", Touko murmured kneeling down and trying to shush the girl.

Now, the tears had started running down her cheeks.

"Just...promise you'll take good care of him, will you?!"

The girl fell into Touko's arm and for a second the brunette was overwhelmed by the sudden sign of trust. Wiat, had she just accepted someone else's Pokémon on accident. But she...she didn't want someone else's Pokémon! It didn't fit into her team! And how was she going to explain that to  _ anyone _ ?! And why would this girl even...

"It's a Pansear by the way…I don't know, maybe he can help you with your gym battle...I heard a lot of people choose water because of surf...", the girl said, freezing Touko in the process. A...A Pansear? That was ama...No. No. This was not a reason for joy. This girl was giving up her Pokémon!

Touko could only imagine how much that must hurt.

The girl let go of her and took a step back, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"Here."

The girl extended her hand once more.

"What? No, I can't…"

"Please?"

Seeing as Touko didn't immediately took the ball, the girl simply shoved the ball into Touko's hand. It felt warm to touch, warmer than they did usually. A clear sign it contained a Fire-Pokémon. And then the girl ran away.

Touko didn't even get to say goodbye.

What...Touko still couldn't quite process what just had happened, but...Apparently, she now had a Pansear.

She looked over her shoulder, back at Striaton City. Well, brute force was one way to win a battle. A good strategy was another.

But in the end...no one could overcome a type disadvantage.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, originally, next chapter was a christmas special I wrote - now, it's (sadly) not christmas, which is why I will probably put that chapter off and post it at a later time.
> 
> Anyhow. Did you like the chapter? I' dlove to read your guys' thoughts on it!  
> Read you later!
> 
> Also, random fact: I got accepted by my unversity, which is amazing, because it means I finally get to live on my own! So, yeah, I'm reasonably excited!


	7. Through red-tinted glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They always do. They're humans. They're evil. They take what they want and give nothing back. They rip you apart from your family and your friends and expect you to be perfectly obedient. I've heard the stories. I've seen the results. I've seen it plenty of times. They use you and then, once you're not good enough anymore they throw you away. The moment your precious trainer realizes that it doesn't need you, it will let go of you, shove you into a new part of the world you don't belong to. Just you wait and see!", he rambled, coming closer and closer.
> 
> Slowly, Lil backed away, farther and farther. No. No, no, no. No, her trainer wouldn't do that. Right? Right? She loved trainer!
> 
> or
> 
> Touko finally wins her first badge - but that's not important, now is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome, dear readers, to the, offically, shortest chapter I have ever written for this. We're getting close to catching up btw, which is a good thing..?
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and see you in the end notes!
> 
> And as always, I don't own Pokémon and this story was greatly inspired by "The Truth will prevail" by maydei - check out that amazing oneshot!

Too little colours  
Chapter 7  
Through red tinted glasses

* * *

_They were gone._

_Gone._

_A whimper left his throat when he realized it, once he had finally been allowed to return home, once he had left all those sirens and voices and people behind. But all that was left was an empty house. Not even a last fleeting memory was there anymore. Not a single sound made its home here although his aunt was busy talking to him. Trying to cheer him up. Trying to wipe the tears of his face while he fought her violently._

_His aunt had never been good at comforting people. It ran in the family. The fact that his father had been good at it...He didn't want to be cheered up anyway. So he crawled into his bed, ignoring his aunt, pressing his favourite plushie against his chest and started sobbing once more._

_It had been hours. Hours since he had seen their laughing faces. It wasn't all that long ago._   
_And now they were gone. Simply gone. In a heartbeat, one mistake, one oversight._

_Gone._

_He didn't want them to be gone._

_At some point, his aunt gave up. She pushed him into his room, telling him to call one of the servants if he needed something. Then she left._

_Three hours later someone brought dinner to his room. He didn't touch it._

_Three days later and his aunt came back to his room. He was the only child of her sister's. He was the only heir to their name, their estate, their glory. And here he was, throwing a temper tantrum._   
_She invited the tutors back over the next day. Life had to go on. She sure didn't have time to take care of a nuisance like him. But at least he had stopped his crying._

.

.o.O.o.

.

  
  


Touko stared at the PokéBall in front of her. She tried not to bite her nails, tried not to get her hopes up too much, as she tried to memorize every last bit of it.

It looked normal. Red and white. A black button in the middle of it all. The perfectly smooth surface indicated it was new or at the very least had rarely been used. It was merely yet another Pokémon, it seemed. Yet, Touko knew better. If one reached close to it, they could feel the ever present warmth radiating from it, indicating a Fire-Type. A Fire-Type! Now it'd be a piece of cake to beat Cilan! The fact that the ball didn't move at all indicated said Fire-Pokémon wanted to be left alone though.

Touko was still rather confused at the sudden turn of events. The strange girl had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and had disappeared into said nowhere again, her only trace being the PokéBall sitting in front of Touko.

She hadn't opened it yet.

Anxiously, Touko started biting her lips. She still couldn't really believe it. She had even gone back, looking for the girl, but to no avail. She was gone and not to be found again. And why had she given the Pokémon away in the first place? She had sounded as if she felt like a bad trainer, but why? The ball was new or rarely used. Most Pokémon needed some time to get used to their new life. Surely the girl had just been to unsure of herself, right?

Touko shook her head and went back to starring at the ball sitting in front of her. Well, she'd have to open it sooner or later after all and then she'd figure it out.

And Touko was always someone who preferred "sooner".

The radiant light blinded her for a second before revealing the Pokémon inside. It was a Pansear, just like the girl had told her. The Pokémon blinked at her in confusion for a few seconds, before stepping back and _hissing_ at her. Confused Touko leaned back, but then she started to smile reassuringly. The poor little guy must be scared. Did...did it feel bad because its trainer had abandoned it? Her smile dropped again. She...hadn't considered that yet. What if it wanted to go back to its original trainer? What if they had had a strong bond, what if…

The Pansear hissed again. Touko snapped back to reality and tried to smile again, concentrating on the task before her. The girl wasn't to be found anymore and this was her new team member. She had to get to know it. A look at her PokéDex revealed the Pansear's gender – male – it's nature – serious – and level – 10. It had all the moves it was supposed to have and seemed to be rather fit. It's type was perfect coverage for her team and Touko wondered whether she maybe, maybe didn't have to substitute it with a, no, no, snap out of it. She had successfully suppressed her future team plans and she wouldn't start to rethink them now. Not right now.

She focused back on the Pansear and stretched out a fist, her smile reaching her eyes as she hopefully watched the Pokémon consider her offer, waiting for it so smile too, promising the start of an everlasting (if she didn't catch a Litwick that was) friendship.

Except the Pansear's didn't smile. In fact, the Fire-Pokémon just starred at her with a guarded expression, though she felt like there was something like scorn to be seen in his eyes. Maybe it wasn't fond of humans yet? That would make sense. Surely, not every Pokémon was like Lil who couldn't have been happier to be part of a team or Ollie who had never known anything else but humans. Maybe it had made some bad experiences in the past! Surely there were Pokémon out there that had more trouble getting used to humans. But that didn't matter! Touko loved every Pokémon there was and she wouldn't treat this one any different!

She watched the Pansear for a few more seconds, before realizing it may just dislike her starring at him like a maniac and therefore decided to introduce, uh, _Emblitz_ to the rest of her team.

"So, Emblitz, those two are Ollie and Lil! They're part of our team and I hope the three of you will get along just fine!", Touko said.

She hoped the two other Pokémon would cheer her newest Pokémon up and it almost seemed like they did. His face lit up and his guarded stance lost some of it's fevor, now looking almost inviting.  
Upon seeing her newest partner, Lil immediately tackled him to give the Fire-Pokémon a hug while Ollie stayed a bit behind, eyeing him carefully. He did look somewhat angry and reminded her of Green Parade, except that Green Parade only put up a show to impress other Pokémon and she didn't like they way this newcomer viewed her. He had this almost murderous stare and she couldn't help but gulp.

Emblitz was, in fact, not all that angry. Sure, he did not enjoy getting tackled, but at least there was another Pokémon! He hadn't seen one ever since he had been taken away from his home! And the Lilipup seemed nice, aside from her rather interesting way of introducing herself. Furball was her name? Well, he was sure he could get along with her. And she seemed to dislike her trainer as much as he did, judging from her happiness at just seeing another Pokémon.

His other new "team member" (Emblitz knew that trainers didn't have teams. They had _slaves_ ) was a whole different story. She looked timid, hadn't as much as said a single word to him so far. He was glad she hadn't. Her smell was off. To human-like. He had heard of that kind of Pokémon. Human-bred Pokémon. They didn't know what freedom felt like. All they knew was how to obey their masters.

Emblitz told her as much. She shot back immediately, arguing he had never experienced what humans were like. There was this protective fire in her eyes Emblitz somewhat admired. But then he reembered the looming shadow above him and he simply grunted in response. He turned away, now eyeing his new "trainer" more thoroughly, wondering if there was a way to get away from her, to get back home, to get away from this life he hadn't chosen. She stared at him with that disgusting gleam in her eyes and she had the most sinister smile on her face that he had ever seen and it made him shudder.

Slowly, he backed away.

"Trainer nice! Trainer nice! Don't be scared!", Furball chimed into his ear, but he didn't listen. All he could see were those blue pools of eyes and he suddenly felt himself thrown back into the forest he once had called home, remembered of the beautiful ponds he used to play next to.  
He missed his friends. He really did.

Regardless of what this two new "team mates" were saying and regardless of the obvious happiness the girl radiated. He'd never stop missing them.

And once again, Chestnut reached the same conclusion.

He hated humans. He hated them so much.

  
  


.

.o.O.o.

.

  
  


The were on Route 2 once again. It was the only place useful for training unless you wanted to battle another trainer in which case the Dreamyard was your best option.

Touko didn't want to battle another trainer though. She needed to get to know the newest addition to the team and that meant normal training. A bit of exercise, maybe some battles against wild Pokémon, some sparring...Nothing too difficult.

It was difficult.

Emblitz didn't follow her orders at all, but unlike Ollie, he had no interest in battling whatsoever. Whenever Ollie disobeyed her it usually just meant she wanted to use a different move or tried a different approach. But she battled. Emblitz didn't. Emblitz just completely ignored her and took naps. Lots and lots of naps.

It wasn't easy, but Touko decided she wouldn't let his behavior affect her. He was lost and sad and She shouldn't make him feel bad about it.

They still had to train though. Touko finally wanted to get her hands on that badge. So she kept on trying, kept on offering different styles of training until finally deciding that maybe, he should simply battle on of his teammates.

Lil was rather excited at the prospect of being allowed to spar with her newest partner. At first, that was. Then he started to be an utter pain and she felt herself dislike him more and more. He kept telling Soft Wave that she had missed true freedom and told her she shouldn't be happy to be part of the team. And he just kept refusing to properly fight until Soft Wave stated he was simply afraid to lose.

And maybe the fact their trainer had announced they couldn't stop until Chestnut and she had formed a bond had helped too.  
Whatever it was, Lil did not like him at all. But at least he started listening to Touko.

They could do this. He just needed time.

  
  


.

.o.O.o.

.

  
  


Touko stared at the statues in front of the gym, gulping as she realized what she was going to do.

She had to win this battle. She just had to. This was the third one. Losing the second one sucked. It did. But it wasn't the end of her career as a trainer. Losing a third one, however, was. Well, actually not, but Touko kept telling herself that to get herself in top form.

She couldn't lose.

She _couldn't_ _._

The girl glanced back, at her team, at her Pokémon that would surely do incredible well today. They had spent some days training, they had gotten Emblitz into form and they seemed to be jut as excited to finally do this as she was.

Lil was currently carrying Emblitz. For some reason Lil did not like him, but she didn't complain about Emblitz hoping onto her back. The Pansear hated walking, apparently, because he refused to follow Touko around, but she didn't want him to be the only one stuck in a PokéBall. She was glad her Lilipup was so responsible. She was glad to have her on her team. Ollie was still perched upon Touko's shoulder/head and this time she let her be, though she had to admit it was starting to get painful. She knew they weren't going to keep it that way forever. But for now, all that mattered was that her line-up was in best form and if that meant she had to carry Ollie around like this, so be it.

They seemed to be so happy this way too! Lil was jumping up and down and if she had been able to understand her partner, she would have heard her say:

"Can't wait to show them! Can't wait to beat him!"

Touko didn't hear it though. Her mind was focused on the battle. Her mind was focused on her strategy. She knew how she'd beat him, without a doubt.

Another glance. Another breath.

"Lets go, guys!"

  
  


.

.o.O.o.

.

  
  


It was his day off. Usually, Max would be guarding the King, but Ghetsis himself had hand-selected him for something different. What it was he hadn't been told. All he knew was that it was dangerous and illegal, but in the best interest of the team.

He'd do everything for the team. Anything he was asked. And a mission given by Ghetsis himself was one he simply couldn't refuse.

Max knew what this meant. He had heard rumors. Getting selected by the sage meant something. It was a way to skip some ranks. To get to the juicy positions. It was a way to prove one's loyalty, to be put on the front-line of their cause. He wasn't a normal Team Plasma grunt anymore. He was so much more, though no one on the outside would see a difference between and the other grunt, guarding their king.

An honour in and off itself already. He was an angel, their King. Innocent and sworn to the protection of Pokémon. It was truly inspiring.

No wonder, considering who his father was.

His father, the greatest man on earth. The man who would lead them all to victory. The grunt grinned. He'd do whatever he was asked if it meant serving their cause.

.

.o.O.o.

.

This time Touko had been too early. She had been pacing up and down the floors that connected to the gym, she had thrown glance after glance at her VisoCaster, making sure she didn't miss her battle and when the time had final arrived she had rushed in through the front doors, her heart rate spiking once more.

She had to win. Today, she had to win. She couldn't lose a third time. Not this early into her journey.

Challengers weren't supposed to come in any earlier than ten minutes before the battle started. They couldn't have the whole place crowded with angsty teens after all.

Hastily Touko scrambled to the front desk once more. The same waitress like last time was sitting in the chair, looking bored as ever. Her Audino was sitting next to her and she didn't even as much as raise an eyebrow at the girl. She scanned her ID and then waved her of informing her she was late and they'd call her name once Cilan was ready to battle.

She couldn't help but bite her lip until she tasted blood from excitement. Her entire body was shaking more than she was doing last time. She hadn't been too cocky last time, she knew as much, but she wouldn't risk to be it this time either. She knew she had an advantage, but it didn't matter.

She couldn't risk anything.

And then she was called upon.

Her heart skipped a beat when she made her way to the battle field, nervously clutching onto two Pokéballs. She had recalled her team before entering, deeming it to unsafe for the three of them to be out and about. They might just trash the entire place. No, scratch that, they _would_ trash the entire place.

Just like always she stepped onto the assigned field. She pressed her lips together (they were still hurting) and looked at her opponent, a determined glitter in her eyes. She was going to win. There was no way the gym leader stood a chance. Her hands were clutching the fabric of her top. She was leaning forward just a bit. Her face was…

"Is everybody ready? Then select your Pokémon!", the announcer shouted. It sounded so much louder in her head and immediately, Touko grabbed two PokéBalls from her bag.

Two PokéBalls.

Ollie's and Emblitz's.

.

.o.O.o.

.

N had been watching this girl, Touko, for quite some time. Well, no. He hadn't been _watching_ her, he had simply _seen_ her several times. Completely coincidental. He hadn't followed her, Concordia and Anathea had told him that that kind of behaviour was known as "stalking" and was, in fact, a criminal offence. A judgment N could get behind. He didn't like being followed all the time either, though he felt like stalking and having some grunts escort him wherever he went were seen as two very different things.

But no, no stalking, no following, no spying had been involved. N had simply seen her enter the gym one day, all excited, followed by two Pokémon. He recognized Soft Wave from the battle he had had with her and then there was a Lilipup she had named Lil. The three of them had vanished into the gym and N had decided to wait a bit so see whether she would win or not. He didn't have any plans other than waiting anyway, his gym battle being in the late afternoon and all.

So he had sat down in a cafe and had waited and then she had emerged again. An expression of panic and despair on her face. Or so Retienne had told him.

Despair made sense. She had probably lost the gym battle. N just didn't get why she was panicking, after all one could have as many gym battles as one wanted. Retienne had pointed out that one was expected to win after the second time and losing the second time may make the girl doubt her abilities. N had agreed that this was most likely the case and had gone back to sipping his tea, trying to ignore the fact that _he wanted to follow the girl and comfort her_.

It was a stupid though, really. He had talked to her for once and sure, she had been nice. He had, in fact, enjoyed her company. But she was a trainer and if she stopped being one, the world would be a better place. If she freed her Pokémon now it wouldn't be too late and the Lilipup wouldn't have to go through any additional trauma.

The feeling got worse once the girl had left the PokéCenter and he saw her running off. Once again he was left puzzled by her reaction until Retienne stepped in and explained further.

The Shadow Triad member was a blessing, though he could have done without her constant supervision.

They had speculated about what the girl was going to do and N got worried. Would she hurt her Pokémon? They had lost the battle after all and N knew what trainers could do to punish their team for losing. Ghetsis had told him time and time and time again and N had been locked in his room with the results of such abuse plenty of times.

Soon enough, the girl had returned. This time, the Lillipup and Soft Wave were trailing behind her, all three seemingly content and Touko even _smiled_.

N smiled too. Her Pokémon looked healthy. They looked _happy_ (as happy as one could be when being part of a trainer's team) and the boy had visibly relaxed, much to Retienne's amusement. The woman was usually so guarded and it was strange to see her carefully crafted facade faltering once in a while.

But it didn't matter. Touko hadn't hurt her Pokémon. She wasn't _that_ kind of trainer and N was glad she wasn't.

She was a victim of the system, like so many other trainers.

She probably didn't even know how much pain she inflicted on her team. She was just confused and not a bad person.

N's face lit up at that thought. He hadn't talked to any trainer as much as he had talked to her and he had already decided to talk some more to her. She seemed so...normal. So through and through normal and average. She was the perfect person to show him what trainer life was like. He'd be able to access a truly true picture. And he wouldn't even mind becoming something akin to friends with her (for research of course, she was a trainer after all!). Luckily, Anathea and Concordia had encouraged this (Anathea with this weird, knowing smile on her lips), though Ghetsis had been less than thrilled by the prospect.

Humans were hurtful creatures, the sage had warned him time and time again. He'd have to watch out, he'd have to be careful, regardless of how pretty the face looked and how soft the voice sounded. They were manipulative and dangerous and he better not get caught up with the wrong ones. N had replied he was fairly certain this one wasn't anything like that but he had promised his father to be careful. And he had agreed to let the Shadow Triad check her background. After that Concordia had berated him on the topic of "stalking" which made him feel ever so slightly uncomfortable of watching Touko, when he had spotted her entering the gym once more, this time followed by not two but three Pokémon. Judging from her long strides and the way she held her face she seemed to be fairly confident in winning.

But he wasn't actively following her anywhere, so it wasn't actual stalking, right? He'd have to check in with Concordia again.

His eyes flitted away from the cup in his hands when the gym's doors opened again. And without a doubt a new winner left, still clutching the badge in her fist and a triumphant glimmer in her, well, in her entire face. Undoubtedly, Touko had won the battle. He almost smiled but then he realized the implications of her having won the battle and didn't. If she had won the battle, she'd continue her journey. Which meant more suffering, more pain, more abuse. N couldn't wait to meet Soft Wave again and see just how badly her view of all of this had changed.

He couldn't wait to make her wake up. Her and her trainer.

.

.o.O.o.

.

It had been some time since they had last been allowed to leave their PokéBalls. Trainer had been busy checking in with her friends and family and only after three hours she had realized she hadn't let her Pokémon out of their respective balls.

She hadn't even spent five minutes with the three of them before she had rushed of. If her team had understood it was something about food and closing stores. Ollie's eyes lit up when she saw a pancake appear in front of her inner eyes and Lil was equally excited at the prospect of dinner.  
Emblitz didn't say a thing. His expression was guarded but Lil was long past the stage where it bothered her. She had already come to the conclusion she didn't like him all that much to begin with. He hadn't even thanked her for carrying him around!

Touko didn't recall them while leaving the room, undoubtedly trying to be on time. They just had had a difficult battle after all and she planned on celebrating it! She knew most PokéCenters had a small cooking area for trainers and she planned on making a nice dinner for her team, if she still managed to get to the shops in time. And the three probably wanted to talk about the battle. Maybe they could fill in Lil, Touko was sure the Lilipup would be excited to hear the news!

"See you guys!", Touko said. Then she left, running through the empty halls, clutching onto her purse. She had to hurry.

The moment the door fell closed two rather curious eyes attached themselves onto Ollie, who glanced curiously at Furball. What…?

"Battle? Which battle?"

The Lilipup's ears perched up as she shuffled closer to her teammate. Technically speaking, she was in a great mood. She had been allowed of her ball for a short time earlier today and her trainer had showed her a video of a new move. It hadn't been very interesting, a few minutes later and she was able to copy it. She may need some more time to perfect the move, but she felt rather confident that she could pull it off. Plus, she didn't think her team mates knew this move, which meant _she_ had been chosen for it.

Which was amazing. Furball could hardly contain herself, didn't want to do anything other than telling her team mates, friends? (was she friends with Emblitz?), but her trainer's weird thoughts made her hesitate.

They hadn't battled today, had they? Lil hadn't battled, though they had headed toward that weird building. She had been so excited, but then they hadn't battled and all her excitement had died down quickly. Maybe her trainer had had second thoughts? Maybe Lil had missed something? Something important? Well, her friends would tell her, right? But why did Soft Wave look so uncomfortable all of sudden?

Just seconds after asking pictures of the green-haired guy flooded Lil's mind and she spared Emblitz a confused glance, wondering whether he knew what Soft Wave was talking about. Why was she replaying those moments? Was she nervous because of the battle? Lil could understand that, so was she. But this time she wouldn't disappoint her trainer. Not this time. She was going to win that battle for her, regardless of the Pansage's strength.

Even if it was ridiculous, the battle.

Even if she was scared.

But it was all about growing and getting stronger, right? Actually, Lil couldn't await the next battle.

Excitedly she barked and jumped up, running around the room, awaiting her trainer's return. When would she be back? When would they train? The Normal-Type Pokémon could feel energy surge through her body and she barked another time. She couldn't stop her happy thoughts from bursting from within her.  
She almost didn't catch Ollie's sad expression. But it made her stop dead in her tracks.

"What's wrong?"

It was a first for Lil to see Ollie pity her. And if she gathered all the pictures she sent out right then…then it hit hear.

"When?", the Lilipup asked. Slwoly, she backed aay. Slowly, her ears pressed themselves to her head. Slowly she uderstood what had happened. She spared Emblitz a glance. He simply huffed and crossed his arms, his expression a mixture between pity, smugness and rage.

Lil could see the pictures. She could almost feel the excitement when Ollie had battled (though the blue Pokémon would never admit that).

"We won?", the puppy asked. She sounded so hopeful. Maybe they hadn't, maybe she could pro…

"Yes."

Yes. Lil pressed herself even more into the carpet. Yes.

Of course they had won. They had won and Roasted Chestnut and Soft Wave had probably done a better job than her. At least in the eyes of her trainer.

Trainer. Had...Had trainer not trusted her? Had...had…

"Should have fought...", Lil muttered. She was fighting back tears. She should have fought. She should have fought the Pansage. She shouldn't have shown her fear, surely her trainer hadn't meant to make her feel like this, surely...

"Yes, she did. She meant to."

It wasn't Soft Wave who answered, who stopped her thoughts. It was Chestnut. And it weren't nice, comforting words that came from his mouth, but harsh ones that Furball didn't want to hear.

"They always do. They're humans. They're evil. They take what they want and give nothing back. They rip you apart from your family and your friends and expect you to be perfectly obedient. I've heard the stories. I've seen the results. I've seen it plenty of times. They use you and then, once you're not good enough anymore they throw you away. The moment your precious trainer realizes that it doesn't need you, it will let go of you, shove you into a new part of the world you don't belong to. Just you wait and see!", he rambled, coming closer and closer.

Slowly, Lil backed away, farther and farther. No. No, no, no. No, her trainer wouldn't do that. Right? Right? She loved trainer!

"I love trainer!" She could feel the wetness of her fur, now clinging to her skin like it did on a rainy day. "I love her!"

"Alas, it doesn't love you."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you made it! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though it's just roughly half the size a normal chapter is. 
> 
> Fun fact: This chapter was the hardest for me to write, because I had no idea what I could possibly include. And also, anyone correctly guessing who the boy at the begining is, gets a cookie. An imaginary one, but you can think of a triple-chocolate cookie of which I ate too many this weekend. 
> 
> Anyhow, feedback is much appreciated, like always ^^ And I'll see you next chapter!
> 
> Bluestpaw


	8. What colour is plasma?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dreamyard was a beautiful place. The abandoned factory made for an almost fantastical setting, with the sun filterred through the canopy of the woods above and the countless holes in the walls. It became an even more beautiful place if one spent some time on exploring every inch of it. Juliet had needed to warn them from exploring the basement, explaining that it was dangerous – the Pokémon hiding there were far too strong for them to take on and Bianca had needed to put some real work into convincing Touko to not search them out to check whether Juliet's words were actually true.
> 
> It was only when the girl's heard voices that their friendly chatter stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's yet another chapter for you guys ^^ Before starting, I just wanted to point out I deviated from the timeline a bit. Technically speaking you're supposed to battle Cheren before the first gym, something I didn't do because, well, it wouldn't make sense with Cheren already having his badge. Thus, the battle takes place later than it's supposed to (This also means I changed the respective level of each Pokémon).
> 
> I also cut out the dream professor from this story. I completely forgot about her when I wrote the chapter and adding her wouldn't have contributed all that much - there won't be any dreamscape shenanigans going on in this story.
> 
> Anyway, that's it from me - I hope you'll enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own Pokémon. Equally sadly, I did not write the amazing One shot that is "The truth will prevail" by maydei, because if I did, I'd probably already been a published author right now (honestly, that one shot is great, go check it out)

Too little colours to describe the world  
Chapter 8  
What colour is Plasma? - not purple, that's for sure

* * *

"Alright, Touko! You can do this!", Bianca cheered loudly, clapping her hands in the process.

The blonde was standing on the sidelines of the battlefield, enthusiastically cheering her best friend on and earning some amused looks from some bored bystanders. A battle was just what they wanted to see during their break from school.

Touko had broken the news of her successful gym battle to Bianca the moment she had been out of the building and they had met up right afterwards, deciding that she should totally put her new abilities to the test.

By beating Cheren.

Luckily, the boy was still around, still occupied with teaching younger students. He had taken a liking to teaching and didn't mind postponing his journey.  
Plus, he had secretly hoped he'd get to battle Touko anyway before they continued their gym challenge. He was glad she had managed to get the first badge. He needed a rival to keep him on his toes and he hadn't gotten around to train all that much and his slack was showing in his team's discipline.

Therefore, the moment Touko had told him the news, Cheren had proposed a so called "battle date" with her. They'd meet up at the trainer school and use one of their battling fields. He had asked his teacher's if they were okay with it and they had simply shrugged, asking him to occupy them during his lunch break, as to not disturb anyone.

They didn't have to tell him twice.

And so it happened that Touko found herself standing opposite to one of her best friends, nervously biting her lip. She really wanted to win this. Even more so than the battle against Cilan, Maybe it was because she didn't get any redos or maybe it was because if she had lost against Cilan, he wouldn't tease her about it for the rest of her life.

Truly, it was a mystery.

They had decided to use one Pokémon each and they had decided their starters were out of the question. No type advantages either, just a battle of pure strength. And one of strategy. Though, there wasn't much to strategize with their rather barren surroundings.

"Well then, are you ready, Touko?", a taunting voice called out from the other side of the battle field. Determined, Touko simply nodded, before grabbing Lil's PokéBall.

And then, the battle was on.

Though Touko had to admit she was unsure whether she should have sent out Lil. The Lillipu was in a bad mood ever since the gym battle. Maybe Touko was straining her too much?

.o.O.o.

N was studying when the two grunts came in. He was studying rhetoric, to be more precise.

N hated rhetoric. Passionately (though no one would ever notice that, N made sure of it). Ghetsis, however, insisted.

_"You need to know how to convince people, how to show them the truth by putting on a play. It is your duty as future King and you must be able to control the masses, be it without preparation."_

  
N hated improvising things almost as passionately as rhetoric and large crowds whose attention was solely focused on him. The sage had a point though. Should he ever have to face someone else other than already loyal Team Plasma followers, he needed to be able to use his words. And although he understood his father's reasoning and agreed with it, he couldn't help but let out a growl (in his mind. Well, in his mind when other people were around) whenever the subject came up.

N knew what he had to do, he knew which stylistic device caused what reaction, he knew what was seen as too much and he knew what was just too little to cause a reaction. He knew all that and yet he felt like using those techniques was wrong. Wrong and dishonest. And N disliked dishonesty. Whenever he wrote yet another speech (some of them Father himself actually read out to a listening audience!) he felt like he was betraying the cause. Like he betrayed himself. They shouldn't have to hide their intentions behind well-meaning words. They should be open about them, show the people of Unova the wrong in their ways. They should be honest. But whenever N proposed this, Ghetsis simply sneered.

People didn't work that way. Humans didn't work that way. They were too caught up in the status quo to realize that changing things may be for the better. They were too selfish to see what was right in front of them.

Plus, he had started to ramble anyway. How would he convince anyone with the truth if he started rambling halfway through?

So rhetoric it was. It didn't mean he had to like it though.

Therefore, the two grunts cautiously entering his room were a welcome distraction. He could analyze them, look at them, try to guess their intentions and even though their obvious reference was a bit annoying (ever since he had noticed no one else treated him that way, N had decided he greatly liked traveling), he enjoyed the distraction. So, sparing the piece of paper not a second glance, he sat upright, excitedly looking at the two men in front of them.

There was quite some difference in the way they behaved, N felt. Both had their heads lowered, both wore the same clothes, the same hairstyle, showcasing Team Plasma's unity, a quality they were known for all across Unova.

But there were slight differences. The man on the right was trembling. Maybe in fear? But that wouldn't make sense. Why would he be afraid?  
The other man didn't tremble. His head was bowed, his eyes cast down but something about him was off, as if he didn't mean it.  
N was confused by this. All the empirical evidence suggested they two grunts thought and acted the same way. Maybe he was getting sick? Oh, well, it didn't matter. He should probably hear them out before the constant bowing caused any back problems.

"Yes?"

N cringed when he heard his own voice. It sounded too commanding and not welcoming enough, but Ghetsis had told him that he shouldn't speak more than necessary to people "that were beneath him" (N didn't get it – didn't Team Plasma need grunts like those two?) and so N didn't speak more than was utmost neccessary. His father knew far more about the world than he did after all. Mabe this was some unspoken protocol Anathea and Concordia had never told him about.

"Your majesty, we have come for your orders!", the two man said in unison. Like two robots and N really tried to feel happy about that. Robots were cool, but then again, it didn't fit.

They weren't robots after all.

Clearing his throat, N decided that didn't matter either and instead opted for gracefully picking up the orders sitting on his desk. Ghetsis had sent Retienne over just earlier, delivering them, without a word like she always did.

That woman was a mystery to N and would always remain to be one.

N didn't know what exactly the orders were. His Father had simply pointed out that he should hand them over, considering he was still in the area anyway and it would do good to have his face out some more, so people were reminded of what they were fighting for. His Father had also told him that this was the last thing he'd have to do in Striaton City before leaving for Nacrene Town to get his second badge, something N had been looking forward to ever since he had beaten the first gym. He enjoyed travelling. He had learned so much over the course of the last few weeks, he felt as if his entire education had been in vain.

Grasping the unopened letter in front of him he got up, handing it to the man on the right, warily eyeing the other one.  
Something was off. But no. There wasn't anything off. It was just a stupid instinct he had.

"Your orders."

Again, N tried to keep it short. Ghetsis had told him so. Though, he really didn't like it. If it were up to him, he'd thank the two grunts for their service.  
(Although he had no idea what those services were – Ghetsis had refused to tell him anything about the mission, claiming he shouldn't get distracted by such trivial matters. N hadn't bothered to disagree, seeing as he really didn't want to listen to any boring instructions).

The grunt on the right took the letter, cast to the ground, though his trembling had stopped. That was good. Were they scared of him? N didn't want anyone to be scared of him.

The grunts outside the castle walls sure were strange.

Unbeknownst to N, the man was brimming with happiness – and nervousness. He was meeting the King. It wasn't much, but...it was amazing. Something about the boy was intriguing, especially knowing that not to soon in the future he'd wield a powerful dragon. He was the reason he had joined the cause, although he barely knew anything about him, other than the stories that were told. About his upbringing. About his quest. And now he finally met him.

"Best of luck, my..."

N almost bit his tongue when the phrase crossed his mind. "Loyal subjects". Ghetsis had told him to adress them as "Loyal subjects" but N's consciousness somehow prevented him from finishing the phrase. It just...It didn't fit. It felt wrong on his tongue. So instead of saying it, he simply opted for another "Best of luck!". This time a bit more lively and earnest than the previous one.  
One of the grunts grinned. The other didn't care, his eyes settled on the letter in his partner's hands, a strange (and frankly, _unsettling_ ) grin easing it's way onto his lips.

Their orders. He was holding their orders. Perfect.

"You...You may leave now", N said, hoping no one had heard his small stutter. He didn't get why he had to tell them they could leave. Weren't they free? Shouldn't everyone be free?

Oh well, at least they weren't confined to a small, uncomfortable capsule, depriving them from all those glorious things the world had to offer. N tried his best not to shudder when glancing at the Pokéballs hanging from the grunts' belts.

"Yes, Sire!", on of the grunts, the one of the right, exclaimed loudly. Banging his fist on his chest.

"For Team Plasma! For you, my Lord! For glory!"

A blush crept up on N's checks. He could feel it. And he frowned when it happened. He was way too easy to flatter.

He expected the grunts to leave now and frowned when that didn't happen. He didn't hear any rustling or clacking, dead giveaways that the two grunts weren't making their was out of his room. Confused he turned around, had he missed something, had he broken protoc….

"For Team Plasma, for the King and for our glorious Sage Ghetsis!", the grunt on the left suddenly exclaimed, shooting to his feet and slamming his fist to his chest. He looked N directly in the eyes. Was something wrong…?

Then the grunt glanced at his partner who shot him a shocked look. But it didn't matter. Those order were from Ghetsis after all. And then he turned and left, not looking back once. If he had, he would have noticed a boy starring at them for a bit before shrugging and deciding he could just ask Anathea and Concordia.

.o.O.o.

The battle was practically over before it had begun. It took Fuscus a mere two moves to take out Lil, which was honestly to be expected. It had access to Pursuit, a STAB Move and while it was a little bit weaker than Tackle, Lil's STAB, it still dealt massive damage. Lil herself hadn't been able to use Bite, due to Fuscus' type and well, then there was the whole Fuscus was two level above Lil thing.

And according to Bianca, Purrloin had higher base stats than a Lillipup anyway.

The battle was doomed from the start. Not that it mattered. Or at least it shouldn't matter. It really shouldn't. Sure, Cheren was going to gloat about it for ages and sure, losing always sucked, but neither of the two trainers had fought tooth and nails for the victory. Touko had recalled Lil on time when she noticed there was no way they'd win and Cheren had completely ignored Touko's feeble attempt at handing over some price money.

"Just invite me for a nice, hot coffee and we're good to go."

Which Touko promptly did.

However, regardless of how easy-going the fight had been, Touko hadn't been able to enjoy it. She was supposed to. She knew. It was a battle between friend's, for Mew's sake! But...Something about Lil was off. And the almost desperate way she had tackled Fuscus (the few times she had attacked the Purrloin) made Touko shudder. What had happened? Had she done something wrong? She should probably talk to Lil, maybe battle some more, maybe the Lillipup was simply sad because of the loss, maybe…

"Well, well, well, looks like _someone_ only got their gym badge because of a type advantage...", Cheren snickered, gloating once more and wearing that annoying smile of his. With the ease of someone who had just won a battle and was incredibly smug about it, he made his way to Touko and Bianca, who were waiting for him in one of the lounges of the PokéCenter that Bianca resided in. They had decided to meet up here, talk about this or that before separating. They had tracked through town to get there, but Bianca had insisted it was worth the trip. This PokeCenter apparently made the best coffee in town and in addition, was far of the central one and any other places that her father may be looking for.

Plus, this PokéCenter was usually only frequented by veteran trainers that explored Unova outside of normal bounds, meaning it was a great place to snatch up some much needed advice.

"Pah. You're just envious I got my badge through strategic thinking instead of brute forcing it!", Touko responded, leaning back in her seat. She sipped at her drinking before shoving Cheren's drink to him. Black coffee, without anything. Not even sugar. It was crazy.

"Ha. I wouldn't call using a type advantage as strategical thinking!", he responded, grabbing the cup and still looking so _incredibly smug_. Ugh. It was...urgh, Touko couldn't even properly describe it.

"Well, then why do they teach it at your school? On a blackboard that quite clearly spelled out "Strategy"?"

"You had time to check out our blackboards?"

"Uh, duh, it wasn't like that battle was all that difficult!"

"I won!"

"You got lucky!"

Bianca sighed and leaned back, watching her friends in their ever escalating banter. A few other trainers turned around and glanced at the two amused and some others chuckled. They had all been there at some point. They all had their own rivals and friends and though most of them were long past the state were the loss of one mere battle would bother them, it was fun to watch those two newbies do what they had done plenty of times before.

"Whatever", Touko eventually huffed. She glanced at the screen over the reception, searching for her name. Lil was currently getting taken care of and it would take them some more time apparently.

"So, what are your guys' plans for the following days?"

Touko would love to travel to the next city as fast as possible, but she'd also love to travel with her friends. While she may be behind when it came to the official schedule, it didn't mean she didn't have a few days to spare. After all, it didn't matter how long she needed. She was going to be a trainer for longer than just a year. And spending time with one's friends was supposed to be part of the whole experience.

"I'll be leaving in two days, that's when the school will release me from my duties. Talking of which...I'll have to go soon..."

"Really? But we've barely been here!", Bianca exclaimed unhappily.

"What is it with you and always having to leave early?"

Nervously chuckling (the blonde had leaned forward and now pinned him down with that intesen stare of hers that somehow only he viewed as torture), Cheren emptied his cup, before pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, but, you know...Lunch break is only this long...Anyway, I still have some time to spare!"  
He could always jog to the next metro station. As long as Touko didn't watch him. He knew full well she'd mock him for his non-existent stamina. Huffing, Bianca stared at her milkshake, before dramatically taking another sip. The moment she tasted the sweetness she decided that this little inconvenience wasn't something to worry about and her face lit up once more.  
Cheren blushed a bit. Touko simply snickered and filed that little interaction away for later teasing.

"Those milkshakes are delicious...Oh, but yeah. Plans!", the blonde suddenly exclaimed.

"I...I'm not sure yet? I, well, I still need my gym badge..."

Touko nodded. True. Bianca hadn't even battled the gym let alone won anything. Not that it mattered (it made her feel a bit better about herself though).

"And...Well...I guess I'll have to stay until I got it?"

She seemed so unsure about herself and Touko squeezed her shoulder in sympathy. She knew Bianca wasn't sure what exactly she wanted yet. It was something she wanted to figure out during her travels and it was one of the reasons her father hadn't wanted to let her go.

"You don't even know what you want! You don't even want to be a trainer!", he had said. And Bianca hadn't been able to disagree because he wasn't wrong. She loved Pokémon, but she had never felt this urge to battle and compare like her two friends.

"You know, you don't have to get the first badge. Sure, they try to pressure you into following the routine, but no one can force you. You can always come back later and collect the badge."  
Cheren smiled at Bianca who was nervously playing with a strand of hair. But she nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah...I just, well, I wanted to try. At least once, you know?"

She looked at her friends and both of them nodded. Of course.

"So, uh, you know the Dreamyard? Because, I still need to train a bit. And, apparently there's a way to get into the old factory grounds? That basically no one knows of? With some wild Pokémon and some of them are super rare apparently! Just imagine how ecstatic Professor Juniper will be if we can catch them for the PokéDex!"

Oh. Yeah. PokéDex. Touko had almost forgotten why exactly she owned one. She should probably catch some more Pokémon for the Professor.

"But yeah. I thought I might as well train there for a day or so and then give the battle a try. And if it doesn't work out, well, then it didn't work out! And if it does, I'll have my first badge!"

Bianca's face lit up once more and so did Touko's. Training? That'd be amazing! She really needed some!

"I, I heard of that spot!", Cheren chimed in:"But no one ever told me how to actually get there...If I got it right, the locals don't just want to give away the best training grounds..."

"Oh, yeah, I know, Julian told me, but he said he wouldn't mind telling me...",the girl trailed off, with a mysterious smile, before settling her gaze back on her two friends. Touko raised an eyebrow. Cheren cocked his head.

"Julian? Who's that?", he piped in, his eyes scanning Bianca's face worriedly. Touko, again, chuckled amused and leaned back, deciding she'd enjoy the show she might just get if she just kept her mouth shut.

"Julian? Oh, just some trainer I met a few days ago..."

"Another trainer?"

Cheren's gaze dropped back to his coffee.

"Should I be worried?"

"What? Oh, no, don't worry, your still the best trainer of our group!"

The blonde completely missed her friend's point and instead opted for affectionately ruffling his hair, ignoring Touko's offended "Hey!" in the process. Then she leaned back again, stretching.

"He's just some boy I met some time ago. We talked a lot and stuff like that and we're friends now..."

"Friends?", Touko raised an eyebrow. That hadn't looked like they were just friends. Plus, Touko enjoyed irritating Cheren who tended to be a bit overprotective when it came to Bianca. But Bianca simply laughed and waved her hand in dismissal.

"You're still the only one for me, Touko! We went on one date, two if you count that other one which was kind of not planned, but it just didn't, you know, spark? So yeah, just friends. He's super nice though! He left two days ago for Nacrene City and told me about this place before leaving. So yeah. Anyway. Do you guys want to come along? I need training and well, you guys probably need some training too!"

Bianca's eyes were brimming with excitement at the prospect of spending time with both of her friends. She hadn't told anyone directly, but she had missed the times where it had just been the three of them, instead of two, exploring the forest's around Nuvema Town. She hoped she could get her two friends to agree. They would spent even less time together now that they were traveling.

"Sure!", Touko agreed immediately. She needed some training. And she needed some team building. Emblitz still disliked her and ever since the gym battle he got along even worse with his two teammates than he had before. And she needed to sort out whatever was on Lil's mind. Before she removed her from the team that was (that thought alone made Touko shudder from guilt and she didn't dare to look at the Pokémon next to her, snuggling up to Ollie). She couldn't leave her partner behind on such a bad note. It was going to be hard enough to do it anyway.

Damn it, she shouldn't have named that little ball of excitement.

And damn it, she shouldn't have sworn herself to never ask her dad about stuff like that.

"Tomorrow? Oh, I'm sorry Bianca, but I can't. School duties. I might be able to drop in in the evening though!"

It was obvious that wasn't what Bianca had hoped for, but she also noticed that was all what she would be getting. So simply smiled at him before taking another sip from her milkshake. Then she watched Cheren glance at the clock and an apologetic smile spread across his expression.

"I'd love to stay, but, I have to go."

He got up, giving the two girls a half-smile. He seemed to be reluctant to leave but another look at the clock told him he really had to go

"Thanks for the coffee, Tou. I guess victory really does taste sweet, right?"

He smirked at her smugly, however the only reaction he was able to coax was an annoyed huff. And a murmured "That coffee sure as hell wasn't sweet". And then, Cheren gave his friends a last wave before making his way out of the door, a bit faster than he wanted to. But he was getting late and if he wanted to catch that metro, he had to hurry.

He really didn't want to mess with his teachers.

The two girls watched him leave, before returning to each other again, with Touko raising an eyebrow. It was _payback_ time right now.

"Sooooooo...", Touko started trailing off, while snatching at her straw, drinking the last few drops she still had in her glass. Bianca simply smiled, knowing full well what her friend was about to do.  
But two could play the game. And Bianca was way better at playing that Touko could ever dream of.

"That one boy..."

"Julian."

"Julian, right. He just casually told you what the best training spot in the entire city is? That one, carefully hidden secret? Just you? Like it's nothing? My, my, Bianca, that is one romantic gesture, in trainer terms that's almost a proposal..."

It totally was. According to the shows she watched at least. They always had this totally romantic scene where one of the main couple (usually the sad, loner type one) showed their love interest this amazing, pretty place to train and then they spent a day bonding there. And it was soooooooo cute everytime it happened!

Touko, however, didn't get to enjoy her moment of triumph (and day dreams), much to her dismay.

"Is someone getting envious? Oh, but my, Touko, don't worry, I can get you a date!"

What? No! This wasn't what was supposed to happen! Why wasn't Bianca all flustered?!

"I remember a certain green-haired trainer you were absolutely smitten with."

"Bianca _.._."

"In fact, I'm pretty sure he's staring at you right now."

Against Touko's better judgment she first froze up and then whirled around, successfully upsetting her glass. Luckily, she had already finished her milkshake.

Scanning the area behind her Touko looked for said trainer, just to turn up empty handed and handing her best friend some more teasing material.

An opportunity Bianca wouldn't let slip through her fingers.

Swatting at her best friend's hat she started giggling, the sound making Lil curiously sit up, eyeing the blonde amused. She liked trainer's friends. They were nice.

"Come on, Touko, I was just kidding! But you do like him, don't you?"

"Bianca, I talked to him _once_!"

"And you said you think he's nice!" "Once, Bianca, once!" "And that's a great start! Imagine if he had been some kind of jerk!" "That's a normal start! I won't just hit it off with someone because "he's nice"!" "He was good-looking though! Plus, that's exactly how it works. You don't just suddenly walk into a room, dramatically stare into someone else's eyes and declare your everlasting love to your soul mate!" "Yes, you do!" "I swear Touko, those shows aren't good for you...Anyway, let's just hope you'll meet Mister Ice guy again, considering that I've never heard you talk about any boy as much as him. With exception of Cheren, but please, spare me the drama of ever dating him!"

Touko just blinked at her. Then she groaned, deciding to ignore that particular remark.

"I'm sure we'll meet again at some point. he's a trainer after all. We follow the same route..."

For a second Bianca didn't say a thing. It was a blissful second. The she started cooing.

"Aww, is that hope that I hear in that voice of yours?"

"You know what? It's getting late and I'm so not having this conversation today. So, see you tomorrow!"

Bianca pouted for a second, seeing as her friend got up, before getting up herself too. Neatly she picked up her now empty glass and shuffled over to the return place thingy for dirty dishes.

"That's a pity. But you're right though. It _is_ getting late. So, see you tomorrow, nine o'clock? Right here?

"It's a date then."

"It's a date then."

.o.O.o.

There were some murmurs heard as the two grunts made their way through the city. Usually Team Plasma Grunts were only seen in large groups and seldom only in pairs. Usually they were on their way to some kind of assembly instead of wandering through the streets of a city.  
Though, they did look just as determined as ever.

Some people came up to them. Asked questions. Wondered if they could join. Wondered why they had been absent after making their grand entrance 15 years ago. Wanted to know whether they'd disappear again just like they had done before. Asked what was up with those rumors of a "king" everyone heard about. Was it Ghetsis?  
The public tried their very best to explain Team Plasma's weird behavior. Which organization in their right mind would make such a grand (and expensive!) entrance, just to lay low for another For 15 years? Just to pick up some traffic again for two months until exploding with activity all of sudden? They were holding rallies and speeches and their leader (was he the King? But he wasn't addressed as such!) making a grand tour through all of Unova. It was weird, the public had thought. Weird and mysterious, as if they knew something they didn't.

They couldn't have been any closer to the truth.

People tried to find out more, people started looking them up and people started to join. Of course, many of them weren't loyal to the cause. Many of them didn't care about the entire plan. They thought an hour here and there would cause a revolution. Well, it didn't. Which was why he despised his partner's actions.

He talked to them. He answered questions. He was polite and _he was wasting time_. Those people didn't matter. Most of them didn't care about their goals. They should be going. They should be at the Dreamyard by now, they should be catching Munna, not stand around, pretending to be a living informative sign. And yet, yet he couldn't convince his partner to stop.

"They mean well. They won't understand the changes if we don't try to explain our position. We can't have a civil war just because Unova is too blind to see the truth!"

And then he had added that their King himself had asked them to spread the word. He was doing what they were supposed to do. And the other grunt was left to his own thoughts and ramblings, wondering why Ghetsis wasn't their King instead.

.o.O.o.

"Did we win the battle?"

Lil was sitting on the bed, next to Touko. She had played with her for an hour or so, before deciding she was tired and heading to bed. She could always take a shower in the morning.  
And while Touko was slowly drifting of to sleep, her Pokémon were far from tired. Ollie had napped all day long and Emblitz tried to be as tired as possible during their training time. Just out of spite probably. That's what he said. Though Lil couldn't help and pick up his whimpers he let out during his sleep and wonder what really caused him to be so tired.

The Lillipup had avoided the Pansage ever since the gym battle. Which was to say for one day. But his words haunted her and after today, well...She pressed herself closer to the mattress.

Touko didn't notice.

Lil didn't expect an answer. She didn't really care about one either. Sure, she had been allowed to fight, but she had lost once again and surely her trainer was mad at her again! What other reason was there for the somewhat boring play time? Instead of training? Lil loved training – she knew that was the only way to become stronger. But apparently, her trainer had given up all hope after she had lost yet another battle. Or...had she? She glanced at her trainer, staring at that weird cubicle thing that was noisy and flashy. Soft Wave was looking at it too. Sometimes, Lil envied the Oshawott for having been raised by humans. She understood their trainer so much better while Lil was left to figure out how to be a good Pokémon.

The Water-Pokémon had told her plenty of times their trainer wasn't angry. She had told her about that one time her trainer had forgotten her. Or that other time she had absolutely terrified her (Ollie had tried her best to make it sound as if she already knew their trainer for ages, although she really was a clueless as everyone else when it came to Touko's behavior).

She wasn't mad. They'd notice. They'd definitely notice.

Right?

And then there had been the battle and now Lil was doubting herself all over again. Emblitz's sneering all throughout the evening hadn't helped her the slightest. Luckily, he was asleep now.

"Battle? Which battle?", Soft Wave asked. The Oshawott quickly looked away from the screen, examining her friend who just sat there, silently, ears pressed to her head. Then the Water-type Pokémon shrugged and her eyes flickered back to the screen. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but one of the humans had a really handsome Beartic and although she didn't know what he was saying (or what the humans were saying for that matter) it was still good enough of a pass time. Lil wasn't in the mood to talk, or hadn't been ever since that stupid gym battle, and Emblitz was annoying.  
Though, Lil seemed to have changed her mind by now, much to Soft Wave's relief. She didn't like seeing her teammates hurt. Except for Emblitz. She _really_ didn't like Emblitz.

"Battle against Purrloin? Against the black haired human?", Lil asked, worry spreading through every fiber of her being. If Soft Wave didn't know, then...then…

"No. I don't remember any battle. You must have been the only one battling. But how did it..."

The Oshawott's voice trailed off, realizing what that meant.

"Lil….Lil, I'm sorry! But don't worry, it will be fine!"

But Lil already wasn't listening anymore.

And Touko was once again clueless to her partner's distress.

.o.O.o.

The second grunt decided he didn't like his partner. They way he had behaved around the King had been nothing but disrespectful and bless their Lord's kind soul for not minding it. If anything, the boy had looked confused. He was the picture of innocence and childish wonder and he wasn't surprised he made such a great King.

Surely, Unova would see that as well. Surely, they'd see his kindness and pure intentions. Surely, they'd notice how he spoke the truth and nothing but the truth. Surely they'd understand why the White Dragon would choose him. Without a doubt even the Hero of Ideals would cower beneath him, acknowledging their Lord's superiority.

The grunt started skipping. He couldn't wait for that day to arrive. He just couldn't. But until then, he'd try his best to show all off Unova the greatness of their Lord and the pureness of their cause!  
Screw his partner if he thought talking to them was wrong.

.o.O.o.

Bianca and Touko weren't the only one's heading towards the dreamyard. In fact, there was another girl, eyeing them suspiciously, as if she was trying her best to hide something. That was, until Bianca asked what she was doing, where she was going and then promptly made a new friend who tagged along. Not that Touko minded. She was just a bit envious of Bianca's ability to make friends, but Juliet was nice, especially after she started complimenting Touko's way of handling her Pokémon.

"You two look cute that way! I should carry my partner too!", she exclaimed, smiling at the brunette. Touko blushed, before looking down to Ollie, silently napping in her arms.

She did that an awful lot, lately. Napping.

"Oh? Yeah, she doesn't like walking..."

"Really? Hmm...I rarely ever see a trainer carrying their Pokémon like that, but, well..."

The girl chuckled amused, raising an eyebrow at the Pokémon's antics.

"That's going to be awkward once she evolves then."

For a moment Touko stopped, realization setting in. Juliet was right. There was no way she could carry her starter as a Dewott. She had to talk to Ollie about that.

"Ollie?"

The eyes of the Water-typed Pokémon twitched. Clearly she had heard her.

"If you ever evolve I'm not going to carry you around anymore."  
Touko didn't really expect an answer. She doubted her starter had understood her anyway. But apparently she did, because Ollie straight out _boxed_ her in the arm once the words had left her mouth.  
Shrieking, Touko let the Pokémon fall to the ground, while simultaneously calling out:

"What the heck, Ollie?!"

Ollie, however, simply grumbled and rubbed her elbows. Stupid trainer. Don't evolve her then if that meant she had to walk. But soon enough she was picked up again and then, after some more walking they finally reached their destination.

Had they paid any attention, they would have noticed someone else had made their way through the secret entrance onto the factory grounds as well.

But they didn't.

.o.O.o.

It was their second time, wandering through the abandoned factory grounds. Grass and flowers were giving the place its own, mysterious vibe and his partner seemed to be set on the idea to explore a bit. He had talked to him a bit more, bonding or so his partner had said. They had been assigned a mission together after all.

He had been a trainer, this partner of his. Had given up training after a serious injury. He had gotten hit by an attack and ever since that he had refused to sent his team out to face such pain.  
It was disgusting, really, if you thought about it. This man had only stopped hurting his Pokémon after he had finally experienced the pain they went through on a daily basis himself. And someone like him was assigned his partner! His partner! He needed someone better than that!

But it didn't matter. He wouldn't disagree with Ghetsis. He didn't know about the sage's reasons, but he knew they were just.

.o.O.o.

They had been training for quite some time by now. Bianca's team was small after all. As in, it still consisted of only one Pokémon. Oinky. Touko had tried to convince her to catch something else, to which Bianca had quickly responded with a "I did!".

And she had! She had caught every single Pokémon they could have caught so far (one for each sex too!), earning herself some praise from Professor Juniper (and reminding Touko once more that she should put more effort into the mission the woman had entrusted onto her). However, although Bianca had plenty of Pokémon, she just didn't feel like any of them clicked with her.

"It's just...They stare at me, but that's it. There's no emotion there. No click. No bond. Not like I had with Oinky. Or you have with Soft Wave or Lil for that matter."

At that point Juliet had chimed in and reminded Bianca of the fact that you didn't just "click".

"Like you said. You think someone is nice and then you hit it off and _then_ it clicks. You should listen to your own words, girl."

Touko seconded that (being somewhat glad Bianca had told Juliet about her supposed "boy troubles"). Bianca just smiled sheepishly, before trusting her only PokéBall in front of her chest, challenging Touko to another battle.

They'd probably have to head to the PokéCenter again after this.

But they had all the time they needed. It was only just noon.

.o.O.o.

Five hours. It had taken them five hours to finally locate a Munna. They were supposed to have accomplished the mission yesterday, but they had failed to do so. The King had told them it was fine, they were trying their best, it really wasn't that important, but it only hardened his resolve. He wouldn't be patronized by his Lord. He knew the boy was lying. They had failed their mission, they had failed Team Plasma, they had failed _Ghetsis_.

His partner was of different opinion, but that didn't matter. They needed the Dream mist. They _needed_ it.

And they had finally found it. Well, not the Dream mist itself, but a Munna and once they got the Pokémon to cooperate, they had finally accomplished their mission. They had contributed to Team Plasma's great design.

Except, the Munna didn't seem to want to cooperate. In fact, it seemed to almost laught at them, making fun of their "feeble" attempts to save its own kin. It just looked at them and kept calling out for its friends instead of puffing out the allegedly purple substance.  
It was infuriating. It didn't matter what he did, he tried to bribe it, he tried to scare it, he was on the point of catching it….

"Are...Are you sure we should be doing this?", his partner interrupted him. He looked uncomfortable, glancing around the perimeter, not daring to lay eyes upon the scared Munna.  
But the grunt didn't care whether his partner felt uncomfortable or not. Ghetsis had told them what they had to do, Ghetsis himself! Well, he had written them. But that didn't matter either. He had to fulfill his master's wishes at any cost!

Though, he doubted the sage had told his partner.

"I mean, are you sure? This doesn't look like protecting Pokémon at all..."

Furious, he turned around, looking at his partner whose eyes were filled with doubt. He kept glancing at the Munna that whimpered pathetically. Arceus, he couldn't believe it.

"We need this dream mist, don't we?", he all but hissed. His partner glanced at the Pokémon again, before slowly nodding.

"Then it's the best for Team Plasma! We have our orders!"

He whirled back around again, staring at the Munna. There had to be a way to get it to produce that stupid powder.

"Yeah, but we also have our codex and all and..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Because at that moment his partner decided _to_ kick the innocent Pokémon and a certain brunette decided to barge into the clearing at that very moment, screaming at the top of her lungs:

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

.o.O.o.

"You know...Maybe I'll catch something here, you know? I...I have actually no clue what kind of Pokémon lives in this place...", Bianca murmured when they had made their way back to Dreamyard after another battle. Touko was probably overprotective (Bianca was for sure) but she was afraid that whatever had happened to Lil would happen to her entire team and she really didn't want to overwork them.

Touko smiled at the prospect of her best friend expanding her team. Finding a new partner for Bianca sounded like fun. Their Pokémon deserved a rest and exploring had been on Touko's mind ever since they had first set foot onto the mysterious grounds.

A frown spread on Bianca's face.

"Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if not even Professor Juniper knows what kind of Pokémon live here..."

At that thought, Bianca's eyes finally lit up.

"OH MY GOSH, what if she doesn't?! Professor Juniper would be soooo proud of me!"

She twirled around and in the same move, grabbed Touko's arm, getting just a tad too close, before murmering:"Touko, can you imagine?! I could present her with a new Pokémon! What if we can find a whole new species here, what if a new regional variant lives around this place, what if..."

And then she started rambling. And Touko started smiling.

And Juliet kind of felt like a third wheel, but she didn't say it out loud.

It took Bianca some time to come back down from the high that was her fantasizing about finding that new Pokémon species and deciding if she wanted to find one, she had to get a move on. So they did, all three of them chattering happily.

The Dreamyard was a beautiful place. The abandoned factory made for an almost fantastical setting, with the sun filterred through the canopy of the woods above and the countless holes in the walls. It became an even more beautiful place if one spent some time on exploring every inch of it. Juliet had needed to warn them from exploring the basement, explaining that it was dangerous – the Pokémon hiding there were far too strong for them to take on and Bianca had needed to put some real work into convincing Touko to not search them out to check whether Juliet's words were actually true.

It was only when the girl's heard voices that their friendly chatter stopped. The voices were close, one sounding unsure and the other furious and was that a Pokémon's cry?

The three glanced at each other for just a second, before hurrying towards the sound – and then freezing, once they stumbled upon the scene.

Two Team Plasma grunts stood there, towering above a Munna. Its terrified screams made Touko's blood freeze in her veins, but the girl didn't get to do anything though, as Bianca dragged her behind a wall, gesturing her to be quiet.

"What are you doing, Bianca?!", Touko hissed, ripping her wrist from her friend's grasp.

"We have to help that poor Pokémon!"

"Yeah, but they're two adults! And who knows what they're doing! We should watch and just call the pol..."

And then one of the grunts kicked the Munna.

The words had left Touko's mouth before she thought about what she was about to do.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"

Bianca followed her without hesitation, anger building up in the blonde's eyes. She was on the point of voicing her anger, but Touko was faster.

Her hands acted before her brain could possibly reason with her stubbornness. Grabbing the PokéBall at her belt she stretched her hand out, a dangerous gleam of determination setting into her eyes.

"GO, LIL!"

She didn't even give the grunts a moment to explain themselves. They could do that after she had wiped the floor with them.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the end, my dear readers! Here's some nice little friendship fluff for everyone, though I have even better news for you - next chapter we'll have some ferriswheelshipping on our hands again... ^^
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't drink coffee. There is probably a name for whatever Cheren is drinking here - but I was too lazy to google. And, just to clear some things up: Also, my personal headcannon is that once you become a veteran trainer, you just ignore route boundaries and do whatever the heck you want, because, really, who is going to stop you? This means that I might feature some places from the sequels later on, but probably not. 
> 
> Anyway. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and for everyone reading, I'll just spoil you a bit ^^ Next chapter there's going to be some sweet N and Touko interactions again ^^ I was planning it for this chapter first but that somehow didn't work out, so next chapter it is ^^
> 
> PS: I should probably have googled how to properly call a "return place thingy", but I decided that this phrase was too much in character to be changed. And also, I'm one of the most lazy people out there.


	9. What's your favourite color?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're weird."
> 
> It were N's words causing her to snatch out of her brain's frenzy and for a second she just stared at him, blinking. He simply stared back. Was this some kind of social cue he was missing, was blinking some kind of…
> 
> "I'm...weird?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there. And welcome back to yet another chapter of "Too little colours":
> 
> Today, we finally have some fluff! Between the main pairing! 
> 
> Can you imagine?!
> 
> Anyway, there's some Ferriswheelshipping in here and some friendship fluff before and I was tempted to call the entire chapter "Blush pink" but then I didn't.
> 
> Anyhow. Thank you to all who left a kudos - it's much appreciated! I hope you'll enjoy today's chapter and keep in mind! We've almost caught up!

Too little colours to describe the world

Chapter 10

Your favourite colour? - It's blue.

* * *

There was a light spring in Touko's steps as she made her way through the gardens on Striaton Town's east side, accompanied by Bianca and Juliet. She inhaled the air which smelled much sweeter, now that she knew those gardens weren't a confinement anymore but rather the door to another part of Unova which was all hers to explore. What a pretty scenery to be surrounded by just as she was to undertake the next step in her, surely, soon to be adventure. After all, not a day ago she had stopped some dumbass idiot who had dared to lay his hands on an innocent Pokémon right in his steps! She was basically already Red junior!

x

_The battle was going to be fierce, Touko knew that. Fierce and brutal and if it weren't for the circumstances Touko might have seen it as great training.  
_ _But all thoughts of fun and joy were wiped from the girl's mind once she saw how little remorse her opponent showed.  
_

_He didn't care. He didn't care at all._

_Touko was furious._

" _How...How dare you?! Isn't...Isnt the whole point of your cult to ensure Pokémon are_ happy _?!", Touko all but screeched once Lil had escaped from her Pokéball's confines. The other grunt flinched when she called his organization a cult, but Touko couldn't care less. What kind of despicable person would attack an innocent Pokémon?!  
_

" _Look, girl, I don't know who you are...", the second grunt drawled, starring at her dismissively. His attitude had Touko clench her fists. Oh, he'd regret his words, how he would regret his words…  
_

" _But please, to stick your nose into other people's doings. We're two adult against a bunch of little girls who have only just begun their journey. You don't want to mess with us..."_

_Confused Lil stared at the man in front of her, now that the light was gone and she could see what was going on. She...she didn't like what he was thinking. And she didn't like the Munna's thoughts for that matter either. Or her trainer's. All in all, she didn't like this entire situation. It was angry and violent and scary and not cheerful at all, unlike the training they had been in just earlier. What had caused this? What had happened?  
_

_Did they have to fight? But...Could she?_

" _You have three seconds to call out your own Pokémon before I tell Lil here to bite your ugly face off!", Touko all but hissed, slightly leaning forwards. Bianca looked at her in shock, trying to tuck her back, still insisting to simply call the police. That was safer. Who knew what those two men were up to. And they couldn't hurt the Munna too much while they were here. Maybe she could signal Juliet to call someone..._

_On the other side of the battle the second grunt tried the same. This was wrong. This was so wrong. Whatever had gotten into his partner – it had to stop._

" _Come on...Lets go. We went to far and, Arceus, they're just teenage girls, you can't seriously t..."  
_

_"_ _You're right. They're just a bunch of teenagers..."  
_

_For a second Kim's face lit up. Yes! His partner got…  
_

" _And we are Team Plasma!"_

_  
And with that, Max ripped his wrist out of Kim's hand, fishing for the one PokéBall at his belt. He may have had to give up his old team before joining Team Plasma, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to stomp this girl into the ground._

_x_

Touko was still mad. If it hadn't been for Bianca, she would have probably wiped that stupid smug grin from the grunt's face, preferably using her right fist. But alas, Bianca was there. And also, Touko wasn't completely crazy. Hurting her fingers wasn't worth it and humiliating that guy by beating him in a battle had been way more satisfying anyway.

x

_The grunt had sent out a Patrat and surprisingly it looked...healthy? Touko had half-expected it to be a malnourished Pokémon in dire need of medical attention, an opponent to be easily defeated, but she had been wrong. In fact, the Patrat looked rather intimidating and Touko was pretty sure that if she had chosen Ollie, her starter would now cower behind her legs, begging to be called back._

_But she hadn't chosen Ollie. She had chosen Lil. And Although Lil hadn't performed all that well the past few days, Touko was positive they could win the battle._

_She hadn't expected it to go so horribly wrong._

_Right from the start it was obvious the Patrat was faster than Lil. It got the first hit in and although Lil had been able to retaliate with a well placed "Bite", Touko knew that they had to get an advantage. If the Patrat kept going first, Lil would be the first one to be knocked out. And although Touko had more than just one Pokémon – the grunt hadn't and this wasn't an official battle – she didn't want to give that kind of satisfaction to him. So she decided to try and boost the stats a bit in her favor._

" _Hide out behind one of the rocks and then use Leer!"_

_Her voice dragged around the battle field and Lil obeyed without a second of hesitation. A smile spread on Touko's face. Whatever was wrong with Lil, the Pokémon didn't hate her. She was unsure of what she was doing, but she still loved her trainer like she always did. It was reassuring. Sadly, she didn't get to dwell in fond thoughts for long._

" _Is someone scared for her beloved Pokémon? Don't worry, once you've lost we will..."  
_

_"Shut up, you jerk!"_

_Touko really didn't care about what he had to say, choosing to instead concentrate on Lil, who had taken cover behind a fallen piece of debris and glared at the Patrat, making it's way over to her. The Pokémon's silver eyes indicated that the attack was being executed and when a few seconds later Lil's eyes turned back to normal, Touko knew they had an advantage._

_The Patrat hadn't gotten an additional hit in. They could do this. They. Could. Do. This!_

_But then she had miscalculated the fact that she was battling another trainer and she was battling someone who knew what he was doing._

" _Tackle, Percival! And then retreat behind the wall!"  
_

_And so, the Patrat did, hitting Lil square in the face before disappearing again quickly, not giving the Lillipup the chance to retaliate.  
_

_Damn it. But they could deal with it. This was_ nothing _._

" _Prepare for the next attack and once it comes out..."  
_

_"Same manoeuvre again!"  
_

_This time Lil yelped when she was hit and Touko winced (she could hear Bianca do the same, while Juliet just looked at the Team Plasma Grunts in shock). Lil was too slow and now that they were in between the rocks, she couldn't even attack the Patrat, but out in the open...Out in the open, they could at least fight back._

_There wasn't really any other option left for her._

_The grunt simply laughed when he saw Lil retreat back into the open and Touko clenched her fists. Her partner wasn't looking all too good and she didn't want to pull Lil through yet another defeat. She had to, well,_ replace _her soon. She wanted the Lillipup to remember her time in the team fondly._ _Though, Touko wished she could just keep the Pokémon. She had grown close to her._

_Patiently, Touko waited for the Patrat to come back, but it didn't. The grunt simply grinned at her, challenging her to do something, keeping his Pokémon out of sight and then...then he turned around and kicked the Munna once more.  
_

_Touko's blood froze._

" _Tell me, girly", he drawled, ignoring everyone's shocked expression (maybe he even revelled in it – Touko judged him to be that kind of person who definitely revelled in other people's horror):  
_

" _What are you going to do now? Because, I'm not leaving until my Patrat is beaten. And unless you want this poor little Munna to get kicked yet another time..."  
He didn't finish his sentence and Touko was on the point of storming toward him, but Bianca held her back once again, pleading eyes wide open._

_Touko knew she couldn't attack the man. It would only get her in trouble. But she couldn't sit this out for hours and leer only worked if the Patrat showed itself and…_

_And Lil only knew the moves "Leer", "Tackle", "Bite" and..."Work Up". Touko's eyes widened when she remembered the Tim she had gotten after her battle with Cilan. She had taught her Pokémon the TM right after receiving it from the gym. It had taken the Lillipup some time to get the move right, but now she could simply power herself up. She didn't have to attack the Patrat. Not yet, anyway._

" _Lil, work up!", Touko shouted and again, Lil didn't miss a beat. Her entire body started glowing in a golden light and somehow, she looked less worse for wear. A few seconds later, the glowing stopped. The grunt still grinned smugly and simply raised an eyebrow._

" _Ohohoho, how scary, I bet you'll be able to beat my Patrat already!"_

_Then he kicked the Munna again. Bianca cringed visibly. But Touko knew what he was doing. One power up wasn't enough._

" _Lil! Do it again!"  
_

_And again and again and again. They needed every single stat that they could get. Lil wouldn't stay on her legs for much longer and she knew they had to oneshot that Patrat.  
But that couldn't be too difficult after a few turns…_

_The grunt seemed to realize his plan wasn't working and in addition ti this he seemed to realize that he was running out of time. A few more of those power ups for the Lillipup's attack and his Patrat wouldn't be able to withstand a single move._ _He didn't want his friend to get hurt badly._

_Cursing, he looked around for his Patrat, before ordering (a bit too hastily for his seemingly uncaring demeanour):  
_

" _Attack it! Now! Bite!"  
_

_But it was too late. By this point, Lil had gotten three Work ups through and even though the Patrat hit hard – Lil hit harder._

_And within a single beat, the Patrat lay in front of Lil, defeated, an awkward silence settling over the clearing._

_At first the small Pokémon didn't realize what was going on, concentrating on staying upright, begging to not give in just yet, she had to make trainer proud after all…!_ _But then...Then small Pokémon's eyes lit up when she realized what had just happened. She...She had won! She had just won a battle! Trai-Trainer would be so proud of her!_

_And she was. Touko was indeed proud of her. Th girl ran towards Lil, sweeping her up in her arms and cuddling her for a second, before straightening and staring right at the two grunts. She knew there was a second one but by Arceus, if he even thought about fighting…_

" _You! Back away from the Pokémon_ now _!", she exclaimed loudly, steeping froward, still pressing her Pokémon to her chest. Those jerks would get what…_

" _Yeah, come on, lets...lets just go...", the second grunt murmured, trying to coax his partner away who was staring at the Pokéball in his hands in a mixture between anger, disbelieve and stubbornness._ _He was snarling. And then...he ripped his wrist from his partners hands a hit the Munna again. Touko's eyes lit up in rage._

" _HEY!"  
_

_Her voice cut through the air, but the grunt didn't care. In fact, he didn't even pay any attention to her._

_"...that stupid Dreammist, you filthy creature!"_

_Now, Touko ran towards the two man, Bianca and Juliet following her closely. Lil jumped out of her arms, hearing her trainer's screaming thoughts, knowing the girl wanted her to be ready. She disliked that man. Very much. And she didn't mind following the orders her trainer was thinking out at the moment._

_The other grunt seemed to be just as taken aback by his partner's actions and tried to pry him away once more, this time with much more force than before._ _This wasn't ok. He should have stopped his partner before it had come to this, unbelievable it had taken a teenager to knock some sense into his own, unmoving bones…  
_

" _Dude...Let's go already, there's nothing to gain here anymore, we just..."  
_

_"NO!"  
_

_His partner whirled around.  
_

" _We got these orders directly from our Lord!"  
_

_Lord? Those guys had a "Lord"? Was it that strange green-haired dude from the speech the other day? Well, he definitely looked like someone to order this…  
_

" _How dare you question them, how dare you..."_

_"ENOUGH!"_

x

They had left the Dreamyard after the whole ordeal, Touko still fuming with anger but at least she had been able to relieve it after seeing those two assholes scramble away. And after a night's rest it had all looked just a tad better, especially once she had finally been able to leave Striaton City. It was a nice place and all, but Touko couldn't shake the feeling that she should have had left already, that she had spent way too much time in this one place and that she should have moved on already. She should be in Nacrene City by now.

But it didn't matter any more. They were finally making their way through the gardens on the east side of Striaton City, ready to leave the place for good and make some progress. Touko would finally be able to discover what lay behind the gardens without a guilty consciousness caused by that one gym badge dude passive aggressively reminding her about the gym and that she should challenge it before continuing.

Bianca hadn't been so lucky though.

x

_The booming voice had startled everyone. It was melodic, deep and sweet, like an extra rich type of honey almost, and for some reason, Touko felt drawn to it. She knew she had heard it somewhere else before, but somehow she hadn't concentrated on it._

_But once she saw who had spoken up, everything clicked in place._

_The person who had spoken up was none other than that one dude from the speech roughly a week earlier. Though his voice did seem to have changed. This one...it sounded like a nice cup of cocoa on a snowy winter's day, the sort of that you digest while sitting in your bed, snuggled into a ton of blankets with your pjs on, enjoying whatever you enjoy doing in your free time._

_The one from the speech - as far as Touko remembered, because really, she had more important issues on her mind at that moment – had been sweet too. But more like a cake on display in a fancy bakery, the sort that you could look at, but not touch. It had sounded distanced and not at all as warm and welcoming as this "new" voice._

_In Touko's opinion, he should keep that new voice of his. It was much more pleasant than the other one. But then again, this jerk didn't deserve any kind of following, so he might as well lose his voice all together and go die in a dumpster._

_Sadly, he did not go and die in a dumpster. Instead, he slowly made his way toward her, his steps assured and heavy, his face a mask hiding any kind of emotion. Touko clenched her fists, getting into something resembling a battle stance. She didn't like him. She didn't like him at all._

_And she wasn't the only one who thought so._

_Bianca felt something inside of her break when she saw the way the man walked, his eyes gleaming, his mouth pressed into a barely recognizable snarl. Touko had fought valiantly. She had beaten the grunt fair and square and the blonde was sure her friend could take on that other grunt too, no problems there. Even though the second grunt didn't seem particularly willing to battle in the first place._

_But this man...He was a trainer. And he most definitely was more experienced and stronger than Touko was. They didn't stand and chance it made Bianca so_ angry _. This was unfair! The poor Munna didn't deserve to be treated like this and...and…_

_And then Bianca decided to use the distraction to her advantage and lunged forward, snatching the Pokémon up in her arms and surprising everyone in the process._

" _Bianca…!"  
_

_"HEY!"  
_

" _Girl..."  
_

_"Are you..."  
_

" _ENOUGH!"_

_Again. That booming voice. That scary, booming voice._

_Bianca hated it. She hated those two grunts and she hated that man, whoever he was, even more. How dare they? How dare they?!  
_ _Careful, as to not to injure the shivering Pokémon any further, she pressed it closer to her chest, before pinning everyone present with a deadly death stare._

" _Don't...Don't you dare lay hands on her every again, you, you monsters!", she cried out, feeling herself shaking too. Tears started to get into her eyes. It didn't matter. She didn't need to be a good trainer to keep this Pokémon safe. She could always run. She could always call the police. She didn't have to fight. Or, she had to, but in ways different that the grunts, the man and even Touko viewed as the way to go._

_The Munna in her arms cried out softly, its wide eyes staring up at her in wonder, before weakly nuzzling her arms._ _The action made Bianca swallow all her doubts determinedly and she looked up once more, a new spark in her eyes._

" _You...You're supposed to help Pokémon!", she accused them and Juliet nodded in agreement. Touko simply stared at them in a murderous way that didn't really fit her. But then again, it somehow did._

" _How...How could you betray everyone's trust, how could you...", she started, feeling a fresh wave of anger welling up inside of her. But the man in front of them didn't care about her words. He turned his icy eyes away from her, his long robes rustling menacingly as he fixed the two grunts with a stare and Bianca pressed her lips together while Touko tried to sneak Lil a potion. She wouldn't go down with a fight. Glancing at Juliet she saw the girl clenching her hands into fists and knew she would help her out if needed, They could take them. Easily. With lots of energy left to spare. Heck, all of Plasma could come at them and…_

" _You two...", the voice boomed, interrupting her thoughts. The man seemed to be displeased. Maybe that was good news._

_Maybe it wasn't._

" _Team Plasma separates Pokémon from humans..."  
_

_The man's head whirled around, starring at Touko who protectively stepped in front of Lil. Never. Not even in his dreams. She'd rather…  
_

" _THAT MISTREAT THEM!"_

_He whirled back around, his voice having lost all resemblance of sweetness. He walked towards the grunts who both were shaking. Though their attitude was different. One of them had his head bowed in shame, quivering, desperately clutching the Pokéballs hanging from his belt while the other looked back in quiet defiance before lowering his gaze. He knew his partner would get him in trouble. He knew the treatment of the Munna had been wrong. He glanced at the Pokémon, still in the girl's arm, shooting it an apologetic smile that it didn't notice._

_He had failed. He had truly and utterly failed._

" _You were to retrieve the Dream Mist..."  
_

_The man started to walk to and forth in a restless pacing that greatly unsettled the two grunts. This wasn't the sort of Ghetsis holding a speech to assemble support for their cause. This wasn't the kind of Ghetsis who gave orders to further their goals.  
_

_This was the kind of Ghetsis out for punishment and revenge. The grunt that hadn't fought gulped. He loved Team Plasma. Would they get kicked out for their behavior? It would make sense, they had endangered the team's reputation after all, they…._

_"Yes sire, but that Munna..!"  
"_

_AND YOU FAILED!", the voice boomed once more, snapping at the grunt after turning once more._

" _YOU WERE TO REPRESENT TEAM PLASMA..."  
_

_He stepped closer once more._

" _AND YOU FAILED!"_

_Cautiously, Touko stared at him, daring to step away from Lil, if just for a bit. The man seemed to be angry, but not at them. He would help them, right? He had to. He simply had to.  
_

_Meanwhile, Bianca stopped paying attention all together. That man was on their side and the Munna needed some medical attention, maybe some berries to make it feel better. Oh, and they had to check out the PokéCenter, that was for sure!"_

" _DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!"_

_Touko couldn't help but smile smugly when she saw the two man quivering, bowing to their Lord, shouting "YES, SIRE!" in unison. It felt so satisfying to see them handled like that. But she didn't get the time to dwell on the sudden happiness that enveloped her, because then there was a flash and suddenly, the man didn't stand in front of the group anymore but instead behind the grunts, leaning forward ever so slightly. His next words were merely a whisper._

" _We will discuss your punishment later."  
_

_And there it was. That sickening treatment again. Stubbornly, Touko stretched out her grin. They weren't out of the thick of it yet. She didn't trust that man just yet. He was the one who had given those orders in the first place after all._

_But at least he got the grunts to leave. Both of them hastily bowed down, before running off, both of them glancing at her friends and Touko on their way out._

_She didn't mind them. They weren't worth her time. Instead she looked back at that weird green-haired dude and scoffed. What was he still doing here? Wasn't he supposed to punish these guys? But instead of following them, he just stayed their, a satisfied playing around his lips before there was another flash._

_And once Touko was able to see again (great, he was the leader of a bunch of crazy weirdos_ and _wanted to blind her for the rest of her life!) the dude was gone._

_And replaced by a Musharna._

_For a second, Touko's brain almost short-circuited but only until Juliet spoke out her thoughts loudly:  
_

" _This...This was all just an illusion?"_

_The Musharna didn't answer but something changed because Touko almost felt like it had said yes. And then she started grinning. This..:This was amazing! She could already see how mad their superiors would get if they not only failed to get their hands on the Dream Mist – for whatever reason they needed it – but also pretended their boss was the one making them fail in the first place! This Musharna was a genius!_

" _I...uh..."_

_t was Bianca who broke the silence, gaze fixed on the floor, clearly nervous about something. She had let go off the Munna who was now happily floating towards its evolved form and for a moment Touko wondered why before realizing it was probably its parent. A soft smile weaved itself upon her features and she looked down to Lil, trying to convey just how proud she was of the small Pokémon for having rescued the Munna. She was a real hero._

" _I- I'm not sure whether you trust us, but….but I think we should take Mune – I-I mean the Munna! You!"  
_

_She pointed at the pink Pokémon smiling awkwardly._

" _We should take you to a PokéCenter! You...You don't have to partner up with me or anything, I know that PokéCenters take care of wild Pokémon too! I talked to one of the nurses and...I just think we should get her checked out! To-To make sure she's fine and all!"  
_

_The blonde seemed to be uncomfortable proposing the idea, pressing her lips together and playing with a few strands of her hair. Her eyes were cast to the floor, although then and now she glanced up, just to shy away as soon as she made contact with either the Munna's or Musharna's eyes._

_Awkwardly, Juliet stepped forward and gave Bianca a short side hug, hoping the blonde would realize there was nothing wrong with the proposal. It was the logical thing to do. And plus, they hadn't hurt the Munna. The...the_ grunts _had. And from the murderous glare Touko had sent them it should be obvious they disliked their methods._

_The Musharna seemed to understand. It felt as if she it smiled and then, slowly, the Munna hovered back over, carefully nudging Bianca's arms and gleefully pressing into her torso once more when she had opened them. Taken aback, the blonde stepped back at first, but when the Munna followed her she started to beam happily._

" _You-you don't mind? That's great! Great, really, we can leave now or..."  
_

_Touko slapped her forehead at the display and looked at Lil once more who was actually snickering. It was good to see the Pokémon's good mood having returned._

_It was also good to see Bianca being oblivious once more._

" _Bianca, I don't think that Munna is just out to get checked out in the PokéCenter..."  
_

_And as if on cue, as if the Musharna knew what Touko had said, it let out one final cry before turning around and leaving, its pink and purple body slowly disappearing between the ruins of the factory._

_Bianca stared after her. And then at the Munna in her arms. For a second she simply opened her mouth and closed it again, before cautiously closing her arms around the Pokémon._

" _You...You want to join me?"_

x

Bianca had ended up catching the Munna and technically speaking, her team should be able to take on the first gym now. The Munna was rather strong, level 12 already, but after yesterday's ordeal Bianca decided that it would be better to give her some rest before throwing her into yet another stressful battle.

"Plus, I had planned to leave Striaton City without my first badge anyway. It's not like I'm missing out or anything!", the blonde had cheerfully declared while packing her things. They had decided to travel together and Juliet had decided to tag along rather spontaneously.

Though, it wasn't Juliet who had decided that spontaneously. It was Bianca. The other girl had already won her badge a few days ago and was just hanging out around town, unsure whether she should leave already, and Bianca had decided that travelling with someone else was the perfect reason to finally get going. So she made the girl say goodbye to her parents, pack her things (she had even volunteered to help her and dragged Touko along, exposing both of them to a blindingly blue bedroom) and then had made her take her first steps outside the city. Her literal first steps outside the city. Juliet had _never_ left Striaton City before. Not once. Not even on a school trip. No wonder the girl had been so reluctant to leave in the first place. But it was great that she did, because she, too, had already beaten the first gym and her being able to show her badge too was a great way to distract that gym badge guy from Bianca and keep the harassment to a minimum.

Touko still felt kind of bad though. Juliet was usually a rather cheerful girl – or had been after they had gotten to know each other and before the whole Team Plasma thing had gone down. Which wasn't a surprise. Touko was still in turmoil over it too. She had never really paid attention to any of those groups. Most of the bordered on being insane and Touko preferred her braincells functioning but Team Plasma had been somewhat well-known. Heck, she had passed by their main building in Striaton City plenty of times! They were up and coming but they seemed to be the most trustworthy and official of the bunch and the fact that they had just witnessed two of their members harass an innocent Pokémon had shocked the three.

Especially Juliet.

But the girl seemed to be down because of something else too, or so Touko thought. She had been over the whole ordeal by now and not even Bianca, who was still nursing Mune, seemed to be affected by it any more.

But Juliet was. The girl hardly laughed and nervously knacked her fingers the entire time.

At some point, Touko couldn't take it any more.

"Are you ok, Juliet?"

"Y-yeah. It's nothing", the girl quickly brushed Touko's concern off.

"You sure?"

Was she having nerves because of the whole leaving thing? It couldn't be that bad, could it? Touko hadn't been able to wait until she finally got to leave Nuvema Town and it was hard to wrap her head around the fact that some people minded leaving everything behind.

"Don't worry too much about it! You can always visit your parents! Plus, you've got your team with you, don't you?"  
Juliet smiled in response, though it didn't seem sincere at all. Then she cast her eyes to the ground and pushed a stray lock out of her face.

"It's...It's nothing, really..."

The way Juliet phrased it sounded a lot like it was something. A lot, in fact. And they way she phrased it made Bianca feel like she actually wanted to talk about it. Though Touko didn't seem to notice…

"Oh...Well...If you ever want to talk about it, just tell us, ok? You can trust us. Bianca may be into gossiping..."

"Am not!"

"But I'm usually pretty good at making her shut her mouth!"

"That's not true!"

Playfully, Bianca shoved her best friend away and although they didn't know what was going on with their new friend (isn't that amazing, Touko? We're building our very own crew of loyal friends! The two of us with Juliet as newbie and that mysterious by of yours as love interest! It's like in all of those shows!) but at least she chuckled when Touko almost managed to tumble into one of the ponds.

If it hadn't been for the thousands of signs indicating you weren't supposed to go swimming here (and the fact that both Bianca _and_ Juliet were sticklers for rules) they could have had a nice afternoon splashing each other.

The daycare wasn't too far away after all.

.

.o.O.o.

.

They, Max and Kim, were sitting in the cafeteria, silently munching on their food. They had handed in their report of the whole failed mission just a few minutes earlier and were now awaiting any new orders.

Ghetsis was still in Striaton City. Max had checked the moment he had gotten the chance, biting the inside of his cheeks. This was ridiculous, it must have been a mix up, why would his lord mind…

"Stop thinking about it", his so-called partner murmured, starring at his food. Kim had lost all appetite by now. They were in for a scolding and he knew that a scolding given by Ghetsis was less pleasant than anything he had ever done before.

And he had gotten kicked out of school once.

"You'll just make it worse than it already is..."

Max scoffed, not looking at his partner. Of course, Of course, that's what _he_ would be thinking about!

"And whose fault is that?", he scoffed angrily.

"Dude, are you really going to think about _guilt_ right now? We both messed up, you kno..."

"No", Max said staring at Kim accusingly:

"He only got mad at us because we failed. If you had helped me..."

"I...How would I have done that, we can't _force_ a Pokémon to do our bidding!"

Max laughed throaty when he heard his partner's protests. Oh yes, poor Pokémon. Team Plasma was doing their best to safe them all. Sacrifices had to be made. It was just a single Munna, how many Pokémon could they have freed with that Dreammist?! But of course, his partner...His partner was an idiot.

"Ghetsis wouldn't have got mad if you had helped me! If we had finished this. He wouldn't have cared about our methods, as long as we had got the job right, as long as we had ensured nobody _saw_ us. If those dumb girls hadn't been there...

"But don't you think we went to far?", Kim interrupted him, desperation giving his voice a sharp edge,"By Mew, you kicked a Pokémon!" Exasperatedly, he shook his head, but his partner simply stared at him. But then he lowered his voice immediately once he realized some other grunts were glancing in their general directions, whispering among themselves.

"We...Don't you think we should apologize? It...what we did was wrong! Ghetsis himself said so!"

"Ghetsis said so because we were caught. I know my orders."

"And so do I! But I know that terrorizing innocent Pokémon is not what Team Plasma stands for!"

He raised his voice once more and again, he attracted everyone else's attention. Team Plasma had a policy of no secrets. Whatever one heard was supposed to be reported to one's superiors immediately. At first it had crept him out, but it made sense once he thought about it. Society was prejudiced against organizations like his. They couldn't afford bad headlines.

And Kim knew he had messed up in that department. He just hoped Ghetsis had managed to convince the girls to let go of what they had observed. And he vowed to make things right himself too. He was going to go back to the Dreamyard and feed some wild Pokémon and of course, he had to find a way to apologize to the teenagers. His partner's behavior had been unacceptable. Maybe he could get him to tag along..?

"Some wild Pokémon, huh?", said partner hissed, fixing him with a furious gaze. He himself simply nodded.

"That's what we stand for after all. Taking care of wild Pokémon. Of all Pokémon."

Max simply scoffed before getting up, loudly pushing his chair back. And then he made the grunt's blood freeze in his veins.

"By Arceus, who are you loyal too?! Team Plasma or to some wild Pokémon?!"

He was taken aback by his words. What...How...

"That...That shouldn't be a question...", he ended up stammering, starring at his partner with wide eyes. But Max simply scoffed and turned around.

.

.o.O.o.

.

"Sire. The grunts have returned."

A cold voice interrupted the content silence of the hotel room Ghetsis called his own at the moment. It wasn't too far from the gym and his window gave him the perfect view of the elaborate building. The facade gave it a romantic and cutesy feel and the flags on its roof playfully swayed in the wind.

Ghetsis couldn't wait to tear the building down. Or maybe he shouldn't. One of the other sages had proposed to turn the former gym buildings (well, the will be former gym buildings) into Team Plasma Hqs. There had been some resistance to the idea – they'd have to move their current quarters and they weren't some evil force overtaking Unova – they were just doing what was right – but Ghetsis had liked the initial concept. It would be good to show the citizens of their beloved country that things had changed.

For the better.

Ghetsis slowly turned around, facing Retienne who was accompanied by her two subordinates. Most people were freaked out by the Shadow Triad, their stoic expressions and unquestioned loyalty, but Ghetsis found it rather satisfying. They were silent. They didn't talk back. They were controllable. The perfect human.

"Their report?"

Ghetsis was surprised he had to ask in the first place.

"They have failed."

The sage tensed. They had...failed? But how? Had he not...It was that other grunt, wasn't it? He knew that one of them was loyal to the bone. He had jumped at the chance to raise in rank, to serve his lord, sage Ghetsis directly, but the other one...He had been suggested by the local committee. It didn't damage to show some goodwill to the members outside the inner circle, Ghetsis had reasoned and really, what could that other grunt do?

Well, apparently ruin the entire operation.

"What happened?"

"They claim to have found a Munna but failed to retrieve the Dream Mist. According to your chose "that little bastard just refused to give us any of the Dream Mist, regardless of what we tried". Further they have claimed that your majesty yourself appeared and told them to stop, threatening punishment which they now await."

Ghetsis lips curled into a smile. While he had most certainly not been there in person he doubted they'd lie about it. They were highly valued members of Team Plasma. They weren't dumb enough to believe they'd get away with a lie like that.

"They also claimed that a group of girls interfered, especially one of them. According to the report she challenged them to a battle and successfully beat them."

At this, Ghetsis frowned. A bunch of teenager girls had beaten them? That was...annoying. He had believed both of them to be better trainers. And maybe they should change their policy of taking away a trainer's team upon joining. It was a sign of their trust of the team, of their willingness to truly let go and set free all Pokémon – even the once they had grown close to – but it did interfere with their plans regularly. This wasn't the first time a Team Plasma member had been beaten.

"What do you think?"

"Sire?"

"Are they telling the truth? Evidently, I have not been present."

Retienne considered his words for a second, carefully choosing her answer, knowing that Ghetsis disliked wrong answers. But she knew she'd die for this man in a heart beat. He had offered them a home when no one else had.

"They are either lying, sire..."

The man's face contorted.

"Or they fell for an illusion. Though, according to the description of the girls, none of them seemed capable enough to be in possession of a Pokémon powerful enough to keep up with an illusion like that. The grunts didn't seem to have a single doubt about its authenticity."  
Ghetsis nodded, a smile distorting his face.

"An illusion indeed. Which means a wild Pokémon must have interfered. Most likely a Musharna, though it could have been a Gothitelle or even a Beheeyam too..."

"Do you believe the illusion could have been caused by a Zoroark?"

At this suggestion, Ghetsis laughed out loud. A Zoroark?

"No, not a Zoroark. Or even Zorua, It is...interesting to see Natural found this... _partner_ of his in the first place. Zorua and Zoroark tend to hide in plain sight...No, it must have been a Musharna, which is good news. Those Pokémon are rather strong and their power's can have many different uses. I want to sent your two companions out to catch it and any other specimen they may find."

"Yes, sire!"

Retienne saluted. Her companions stayed silent like they always did. Then, she waved a few fingers, made a few hand gestures (were the other two deaf? Ghetsis himself didn't know, the Shadow Triad may be loyal, but they were an enigma nonetheless) before they disappeared into thin air, just like they had shown up. Satisfied, Ghetsis nodded and turned back to the window once more, scoffing when he saw yet another trainer leave the building, followed by a Pidove.

"Talking about my son...I assume he has already resumed his journey?"

"Yes, sire."

"Great. I want you to follow him and report back to me on a daily basis. We can't have Natural exposed to any bad or corrupting influences after all."

.

.o.O.o.

.

They had made it to the Daycare on time. Well, not really. They were too late to get a room, but that was a given. The Daycare was the most popular spot to relax after having made it through the first stretch of Route 3. It was a nice little inn that didn't just offer housing for Pokémon but trainers as well (though their rooms weren't free like the PokéCenter's were). In addition, soon after people had discovered this spot as the best place to unwind before taking on the majority of the next part of the journey, a cosy camping had sprung up next to it, which was frequented by most. Most people didn't make it far on their first day of travelling again. One had to leave Orion City and most preferred to sleep in instead of getting up at six o'clock in the morning just to make the trek to the next PokéCenter and plus...The change was nice.

Even though Touko really _hated_ camping.

Once Touko had complained about the sleeping arrangement, Bianca had helpfully pointed out that they could have arrived earlier, if it hadn't been for a certain someone that the day was too beautiful to go to waste and that they should totally take a dip in one of the many lakes in the area (or, in Touko's case, nap in the sun, as the brunette didn't really enjoy getting all too wet).

A lot of coaxing from Touko later (and after having checked twice for any kind of prohibiting signs, something Juliet had insisted on) they had spent a few hours playing in the lake.

Ollie had loved it. Lil had loved it. Mune had seemed satisfied with being able to take a nap in the shadows and Juliet's Purrloin had soon joined her.

Oinky and Emblitz were reasonably pissed of. Oh well, after some time Oinky had decided the sun was good enough and after even some more time, Emblitz had stopped glowering at the girls and joined the other Fire-Type on one of the blankets. It had been fun. A lot of fun.

And then the sun had suddenly started disappearing and all three girls had scrambled to get to the Daycare before it had completely set.

And now they were on their way to the brightly lit meeting point just in front of the few buildings. During the night it was filled with a few bonfire, a crowd around each of them. Some people had gotten their hands on some marshmallows and were sharing them with their friends while excited chatter filled the air. Plenty of trainers mixed here, loudly boasting with their newest adventure, sharing all kind of different stories with whoever was willing to listen.

Touko, Bianca and Juliet had decided that it was the perfect atmosphere to let lose and mix with the crowd, though Juliet had insisted they should leave their Pokémon in their tents. There were plenty of trainers around that were out on some experience and declining a challenge in front of everyone would be embarrassing.

Touko had then insisted to drop them off at the large area close to the Daycare reserved for Pokémon only. It had been some walking to get there, the Daycare didn't want any noise from the camping grounds spilling over, but 12 minutes weren't that much and once Touko had sniffed the energetic atmosphere she had been completely revitalized.

"Can't keep them locked up in their Pokéballs", Touko had argued and Juliet's eyes had lit up at the remark. Then they had dulled once Touko had obliviously continued.

"And I bet that Emblitz would take the chance to try and disappear into the forest. Not to mention that I don't necessarily trust Lil right now with being outside unsupervised – or at least unsupervised around humans."

The little Furball had found her cheerful nature once more and had been seemingly trying to make up for her melancholy the past few days with unlimited energy. While all thee other Pokémon were obviously exhausted after the day (there had definitely been more sparring and battling than any of the girls had expected) Lil was still fully capable of causing some trouble.

And now, here they were. Enjoying the night (like half of Striaton Town's youth apparently – no wonder that city didn't have any nightlife at all). Talking. Gossiping. Bianca casually flirting with some guy before practically shoving Juliet into his arms and declaring "that they would get along perfectly!".

Needless to say that Juliet had been horrified, the guy had been confused and Touko had snickered.

"Don't go there, Touko. If I see anyone with green hair, I won't just figuratively push you into his arms. Arceus knows you finally need a boyfriend..."

.

.o.O.o.

.

N wasn't sure what to make out of the situation he had found himself in.

His father had advised him to stay away from the Daycare. It wasn't a place to be for him – he was the King of Team Plasma and the Pokémon Daycare was yet another symbol of oppression. How many poor Pokémon had been mistreated at this place? How many Pokémon had been carelessly been left behind because their trainers didn't care enough for them to actually _train_ them themselves?

But N had decided to ignore his father's warnings (after explaining his reasoning to Ghetsis of course and while the sage had disliked it he had agreed with the other sages present that he was the King and could do however he pleased) and had headed that way anyway. According to the local Team Plasma members, this place was were most youths ended up while traversing the Route.

And N had wanted to come into closer contact with people his age ever since he had had his conversation with the brunette girl from Accumula Town. He had talked to others before, but never so extensively as with her. He had been on a tight schedule trying to find his team and all.

But now he had time. And he planned on using it and what better place was there than a local "hotspot", as the grunts had called it.

It had sounded interesting. And it was interesting. There were quite a lot of people there, more than he had expected, and they all seemed strangely...open.

There was this one girl who had been rather nice, though she had left him at some point for whatever reason and later on, when silently listening to a group or former trainers, one of them had turned around out of nowhere, offered him a marshmallow and asked whether he had some stories to tell.

"Dude looks like he has seen some awesome stuff, right?"

N had been a bit taken aback by the boy's forwardness but also didn't want to stick out of the crowd by seeming rude.

Thus he had told the story of that one time he had freed an abused Pokémon.

_He_ had freed it. He hadn't ordered it, he had stepped in himself. It was his proudest moment, even better than when he had been crowned that one fateful day with the heavy burden that he called destiny.

The group had grown quiet at his tale and he felt accomplished. Did they maybe reconsider their cruel…

"Man, I can't believe how someone could do that to their team...I'd never hurt my buddies like that..."

The boy had stared down at the three Pokéballs in his bag. N bit his lip at the comment, disappointed on the one hand and angry on the other.

The boy had most likely already completely his gym challenge and had then gone back home to end his schooling. Most trainers ended their challenge with an average of 5.6 Pokémon in their team.

So where were the other two to three Pokéballs of the team members he claimed to love so dearly?

However, N didn't comment anything. He knew it was his duty, him being the King and all, but this journes was supposed to teach him about human society and he was not supposed to flaunt his status to anyone (not that N would ever brag with it – being a King was nothing noteworthy. He was simply Team Plasma's first and most loyal servant).

N figued that if he were to start a discussion now, they'd only grow weary of him and he'd gain much more by simply listening in for a while.

He managed to stay for five minutes until he couldn't take their bragging about their "heroic battle feats" anymore.

It was disgusting.

Getting up, he made his way through the crowd again, his eyes eventually ending up one something one could describe as a "dance floor" and watching the people do stuff.

It looked rather intimate.

Anathea and Concordia had told him that any display of public affection (if he should ever feel the need to do so, Anathea had added with a smirk) should be decent and not get too "hotheaded" at Concordia had phrased it, but these societal rules did not seem to apply to that place. Maybe it was because the place was almost exclusively filled with teenagers whose hormonal levels might cloud their judgment, thus making society more lenient in those regards. Or maybe they were trying to rebel. Perhaps this was simply some sort of "special zone"?  
Well, he'd just ask his sisters about it later. For now he decided he preferred to not watch (he felt a blush on his cheeks once he realized just _what_ he had done) and left once more.

The next time his eyes stayed on a group longer than expected, it wasn't because of any interesting behaviour. Instead he simply recognized Touko, standing next to to other girls, chatting vividly with them.

N grinned when he saw her familiar face before glancing at her two companions. One of them was blonde and she was talking to a boy – it wasn't the same he had seen with Touko before.

N moved closer, before glancing at the other girl – and immediately something about her caught his attention.

The other girl wore a bracelet which looked strangely familiar. N stared at it for a few seconds before recognizing it. It was one of those bracelets you got when attending one of Team Plasma's many informative event. Most people threw it away after receiving it, but it was nice to see this girl rather hung on to it.

And it was nice to see that Touko was willing to spent time with someone associated with Team Plasma. That meant she cared about Pokémon, right? That meant that maybe, she'd be willing to give up her existence as a pitiful trainer and fight for the truth.

The thought filled him with warmth.

But then he shook his head and remembered just why he was making his way over to Touko. He wanted to have another battle. He wondered whether she let Soft Wave out – the Oshawott was timid and most likely not fond of this overly crowded place (though he had been informed there were place that were much more crowded) and somehow N hoped Touko would recognize this and leave the Water-Type in her Pokéball.

As much as he hated the thought of a Pokémon forced into such a small confinement.

.

.o.O.o.

.

"Hey, Touko."

"Yeah?"

The girl in question was taking a sip from Bianca's water bottle as she had failed to fill up her own earlier.

"Guess who's there?"

Somehow, Bianca's smug grin was unsettling and cautiously Touko lowered the bottle again. That smile could mean no good. Not when it was found on Bianca's face.

"Uh...who?"

"Mister Nice guy."

Now Touko snorted and handed her friend the bottle back. Juliet peered over Touko's shoulder but shrugged before looking at the other two girls quizzically. She was missing something. That much was obvious. Though Touko didn't seem all too impressed with her friend's answer.

"Nice try, Bianca, but I'm not falling for that trick again."

"It's not a trick, believe me. Also, he's coming over here. Juliet, get ready to scram."

Annoyed, Touko huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, rolling her eyes. Juliet on the other hand seemed to finally spot who Bianca was talking about and a grind spread across her face too, before she chuckled and said:

"Sure. Just tell me when we've got to leave."

Juliet had opened up during the evening, the laid-back atmosphere seemingly getting to her. It was nice to see a smile on her again.

Except not for the grin that she currently spotted.

"Oh come on! Just because I said he's nice and maybe remarked on his physical fea..."

"Excuse me, but aren't you Touko?"

The faintly familiar voice made the girl freeze before she whirled around, her finger pointing at the culprit accusingly before she exclaimed:

"What...What did you hear?!"

"Uh...nothing? Eavesdropping, as it is most often referred to, although I prefer the term "to listen in", is frowned upon in society and therefore, I refrain from doing it. Though I must admit you have now successfully sparked my curiosity..."

Touko stared at him in confusion. He had shoved his cap into his face in a nervous gesture she was all too familiar with and seemed to be rather nervous. That certainly would explain his weird way of talking.

"Talking about eavesdropping!", Bianca smoothly segued, successfully grabbing everyone's attention (though she had been unwilling at first. The staring would make for great teasing material later on). Linking her arms with Juliet, she saluted shortly, before she started to walk of.

"Juliet and I over here have to eavesdrop on that guy's..."

She pointed somewhere behind Touko and N and Touko just knew that there was probably no one there.

"...conversation for reasons I'm not willing to disclose at the moment. Meanwhile, you..."  
She turned around to fully face him, letting go of Juliet who evily chuckled upon seeing Touko's flushed face.

"N was it, right? Yeah, N….You can keep my very best and amazing friend here over company while your gone, ok?"

Confused N blinked (why was Touko blinking? Why was the blonde girl looking at him with such a bright smile? Why was the other girl chuckling?), before slowly nodding and backing away a bit, looking at Touko for reassurance (though she wasn't of any help).

"I...I..." - Why was he stuttering? - "I was planning on, uh, "keeping her company" anyway."

He wasn't sure if saying something like this way ok, seeing as Touko froze and then started blinking at anything, but the blonde girl didn't seem to mind. If anything, it made the girl smile even wider and the girl wearing the bracelet was now barely containing her laughter.

"Even better! Have fun the two of you! And Juliet, we have to go. Like, right now. Bye!"

And then she was gone. And Touko's face was more red than Emblitz' fur. She didn't get anytime to bask in her embarrassment for long though as N either didn't notice or simply didn't care.

"Your friends are nice", he said.

"No. No they're not", Touko simply muttered in response, a reaction that made N's head whirl around, curiosity and shock plastered across his face.

"They're what? Don't you like your friends?"

Touko blinked. And stared at him. _Again_.

Arceus, she was doing that often. Then again, the view was nice aaaand the atmosphere was getting to her, wasn't it? She quickly averted her eyes and swore she felt her skin heat up even more. Screw Bianca.

She glanced back at him. He was eyeing her curiously, before pushing her cap deeper into her face. She remembered Bianca's words all too well.

He's nice. He's cute. Just try it. And...why not? After all, he did voluntarily spent time with her. They hadn't talked much yet but well...Maybe she should ask him for his number. Maybe. Not now though, right now she had to calm down.

"So, uh...Did you come over for any specific reason?"

This was safe. Right? If he wanted to ask her...Well, he could do now. If he didn't, this was safe. Plus, he had to talk. She could listen and judge.

The question seemed to have the desired effect, as he stopped seemingly analysing her (she blushed awfully lot) and then calmly answered:

"I'd like to battle you again. The last battle was..."

He halted for a second, wondering how he'd phrase what exactly the battle had been like. Painful? Absolutely, so "nice" was out of the option. And really, all he wanted to do was see Soft Wave again to see if she still liked her "partner" so much.

He ended up settling for "interesting" an answer that made Touko calm down and for a second he saw something akin to a glint in her eyes, before it disappeared and she looked at her almost empty bag and she bit her lip.

"A battle? Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't have my Pokémon with me right now..."

Sheepishly she averted her gaze, stealing a few glances at him. No cocked his head in surprise. She...didn't? Why not? That didn't make any sense! She was a trainer, weren't they supposed to have their Pokémon around all the time, to be ready for any battle? Wasn't that the point of being a trainer, to battle every single soul on this planet just to show off to their friends how strong "they" were?

Touko chuckled nervously when she saw his confused expression.

"Oh, well, you see...Ollie doesn't really like being in a Pokéball plus I'm kind of used to just carrying her around by now. Thinking about it, Lil doesn't like being in a Pokéball either and if I let those two out, then I have to let Emblitz out to, because otherwise it would be _really_ unfair, but letting Lil and Emblitz out of their balls while there are a bunch of humans around is problematic because Lil is, well, Lil is Lil and Emblitz doesn't really like humans, so I don't think that's a good idea."  
N frowned upon hearing her words. At first he was ecstatic – she didn't disregard her Pokémon's feelings! - but soon his enthusiasm faltered.

"If "Emblitz"..."

He didn't like it when humans gave Pokémon their own names. They already had one after all and while they didn't mind having more than one name - Zorua was the best example for this - 

"...doesn't like being around humans, then why do you keep him?"

Touko groaned. She actually _groaned_ when he asked her. And N felt somewhat offened. And then disappointed.

"Can we..:Can we not discuss that right now? All I can say is that I'm positive he's just shy, but I'm pretty sure you'll disagree with me. But it's late and I'm kind of mad at Bianca for ditching us..."

Bianca? The blonde girl?

"...so...not now? Though, if it makes you feel better, you're...not completely wrong. And though I don't agree with everything you said, our last conversation was pretty interesting."

"You remember our conversation?!"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise and Touko stared at him awkwardly. What…

"I mean...You were pretty passionate about the topic after all..."

For a second he just stared at her, before his face lit up with happiness and he beamed:"That's great! That's...that's really great!"

If anything, his smile grew even wider and something about his posture made Touko feel as if he wanted to dance around at the moment.

Because she had remembered their conversation? That was...weird, to say the least. But also really cute. Really, really cute.

And that settled it. She'd ask him for his number. Bianca was right. He was nice, he didn't seem to dislike her and he was another trainer and one that seemed to be pretty decent at that! Surely, they'd have things in common, right? Plus, just because she asked him for his number it didn't _mean_ anything. They...He himself had expressed his desire to battle her again!

She could do this! She just had to be clever…

"Uh...I somehow doubt Bianca and Juliet will come back anytime soon", Touko started, wondering if she was pushing her luck but deciding that she couldn't back out anymore anyway. And he still smiled at her, so that was that.

"Do you want to walk around a bit? I'm sick of just standing in one spot..."

She hoped he wouldn't question her reason. It wasn't a complete lie – she was sick of standing around. She preferred to be out and about and a bit of fresh air, or rather _calmed down_ air would do her some good.

"Take a walk?" That sound great!", N beamed and Touko felt herself smile back at his childlike joy.

This was great. This was good. This was going to places.

.

.o.O.o.

.

"Uh...since you wanted to battle and all...", Touko started, careful as to not look him in they eyes as they walked around the empty camping ground. They had chosen to distance themselves from the crowd, walking around the more natural parts of the area.

N seemed to like this place much more and seemed less tense than he had before, At some point he had even taken his cap off and started fidgeting with it in his hands, though it didn't seem like a nervous habit of his.

There was a solved Rubik's cube hanging from his wrist and Touko wondered whether he'd usually solve one of those.

Taking a deep breath Touko focussed herself. She was on a mission. Flirt a bit. Ask him for his number. Show Bianca she _was_ able to talk to boys. Easy-peasy.

"May...Maybe we should exchange phone numbers!"

Well. She had skipped the "flirting" part. And sounded a bit over-excitede. But she could work with this!

"So-So we can keep in contact! You know, so we can organize future battles. So, uh, basically we can be battle buddies! If you're fine with that, that is, if not it's totally fine, I bet you have a lot on your plate and don't want to intrude or anything..."

Touko knew she was rambling and half-expected him to interrupt her, but he didn't. He simply waited patiently. She took that as a sign that she would have to shut herself up on her own. She failed to see the fond smile on N's face as he realized he wasn't the only one who tended to ramble from time to time. They had something in common! And it wasn't nearly as annoying as Ghetsis had always made it out do be! In fact, it was rather endearing. But then again, Bianca, if that was the blonde girl's name, had said Touko was amazing, a statement N had yet to disprove and for some unlogical reason found himself already agreeing with. So maybe it was just Touko who made it bearable.

And then she stopped, staring at him expectantly. He frowned, but then realized she had asked him a question and hastily responded:

"You want my phone number?"

Touko nodded. Blushed again. Well, she made blushes look cute, so maybe his rambling wasn't nearly as pleasant as hers.

"Of course. I'd love to!", he exclaimed, fishing for the tool in his bag. Touko visibly relaxed after had had answered and did the same and the next few minutes were spent with awkwardly trying to add two numbers to two different VisoCasters.

Once that was done, the awkwardness didn't simply disappear though and the two walked in silence for some time, Touko internally screeching _and_ cheering at the same time.

She had got someone's number! That was a first! And he had said "He'd love to" too! And why was she making such a big deal out of it?

Anyway. It didn't matter. Focus on the task at hand. Defuse the situation. Come up with small talk. They were both good at small talk.

Small talk.

"So, uh, what's your favorite color?"

Great question, Touko, great icebreaker. Bianca would have a field day if she would hear you.

"Huh?"

He seemed to be as confused by her sudden question as Touko was herself, but she was nothing but determined and she could roll with this. She totally could.

"Your favorite color! You know, because we're...uh...we're battle buddies now! Right? Yeah, we're totally battle buddies...So, we've got to get to know each other!"

N just stared at the brunette in front of him, who stared back expectantly. Battle...buddies?

The girl seemed to notice his hesitation and her usually spotless happy demeanour faltered. Nervously she bit her lips.

"Oh. I'm...I'm sorry for assuming anything, I just, you know, I just thought..."

Touko averted her eyes, hoping he didn't notice her blush. Arceus, why was she blushing? This was ridiculous! All just because of stupid Bianca…

"Well, we exchanged numbers, right?"

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. There was nothing wrong with her assumption. He was nice, right? If he didn't want to meet up to battle from time to time, so be it. But he wouldn't blame her for making that assumption. Right?

And even if, it's not like it would matter if he made that assumption!

Screw Bianca! Screw Bianca and her thoughts!

"You're weird."

It were N's words causing her to snatch out of her brain's frenzy and for a second she just stared at him, blinking. He simply stared back. Was this some kind of social cue he was missing, was blinking some kind of…

"I'm...weird?"

What was _that_ supposed to mean? Didn't he like her? Was he trying to offend her to coax her into battling? Was he…

"Yes. You suddenly started stammering and you blushed and I, quite frankly, cannot imagine a reason as to why that would happen, therefore your reaction is contrary to that of a normal human, classifying you as "weird"."

She stared at him. That was all he got as a reaction. He cocked his head, unsure what to make of it while Touko just wondered whether she _really_ was weird.

"Uh-huh...I...I guess I'm a bit weird!", she murmured (why was she so upset he thought that of her? Matter of fact she _was_ weird!). Moving on and determined to change the subject and not let this potentially live changing conversation go to waste she shoved her cap deeper into her face and turned around just to be beaten by N when it came to talking.

And boy, did he talk. Fast. He talked fast. With a lot of hand gestures. And a lot of facial gestures too. It reminded Touko of that one time he had gone off to rant about the bad treatment of Pokémon (was he a member of those Team Plasma guys after all? But he seemed to _nice…_ ), except this time he talked even faster and made even more hand gestures and Touko had to admit, it was kind of cute.

Obviously, she started fuming again directly after having had that particular thought and silently cursed Bianca for her nosiness. This was all the blonde's fault. She was sure of it.

"I didn't mean to insult you. If my previous words have made you feel uncomfortable of offended I would like to offer my sincerest apologies as I was simply trying to voice an observation though I must admit that I should have rephrased it. In addition to this I would like to point out there is nothing wrong with being "weird"..."

The way he said it made it sound as if he was meaning the exact opposite of what he said.

"...as such a thing as "weirdness" does, in fact, not really exist. To be weird there must be a norm and while there is a stereotypical norm to human behaviour most little "weird" habits are in fact not weird at all and portrayed by another minority group of society, showcasing that an individual may just not be in their preferred environment and or the judging person themselves, in this case I, may be in..."

Blushing, Touko averted her eyes from his face and starred at her feet, an action which made him snap out of his ramblings and shut his mouth. Then they stayed there, staring at anything but each other, none of them really knowing what to do next.

Screw. Bianca.

"Anyway..."

Awkwardly, N cleared his throat, noting that he'd have to ask Anathea and Concordia about the stereotypical behaviour of teenage girls, before continuing:

"I'd love to be your "battle buddy"..."

The way he pronounced the phrase "battle buddy" made it sound weird.

"...provided you explain just what exactly a "battle buddy" is and what sort of responsibilities come with it. I...uh...I don't always have a lot of time..."

He looked away, embarrassed. After all, he couldn't tell her why and the way she had spoken about Team Plasma earlier made him doubt she'd want to talk to him again if she ever found out she was their leader.

Something he had to change at all costs. He couldn't have anyone doubting Team Plasma once the inevitable takeover took place.

"And I'd hate to not be able to commit to something as important as being "battle buddies"."

He ended his short speech and looked at her curiously. She was starring back at him and looked - somewhat disappointed. Averting her eyes, Touko shoved her cap deeper into her face and it almost seemed as if she were

"You...You don't have to be, you know? If you don't want to, I won't be offended or anything, I swear!"

Touko siled awkwardly at him, in a way that was obviously forced. Surprised, Ndrew back. Had he offended her _again_? Had his lessons with Anathea and Concordia been in vain after all? He definitely had to ask his sisters about insult and behaviour that could be classified as such. Touko's Pokémon were an interesting subject to study (well, all Pokémon were, but for his mission Furball and Soft wave were _especially_ interesting) and he'd hate to lose contact to her just because he came across as rude.

"Why wouldn't I want to be your "battle buddy"?"

The girl's expression soured at this and he couldn't fathom why.

"I'm just confused to as what exactly my responsibilities..."

"You make it sound like a chore!"

Now she was _pouting_. Why was she pouting? And what was wrong with being honest about not wanting too many responsibilities? But then again, maybe it made her feel inadequate and he _really_ didn't want that.

"I, uh, didn't mean to...I just meant I was unsure whether I'd be able to complete the tasks going along with the responsibilities of being a "battle buddy" and..."  
"Stopping making it sound so weird!", she interrupted him yet again. He had to admit though, he was thankful for it. He could already feel himself starting to ramble again.

"It's...Arceus, "Battle Buddies"...It just means you meat up from time to time to battle, ok? It's like...If you don't want to, then don't! It's not like you're the only I have. Or could ask!"

He stared at her. She averted her eyes and blushed. _Again_. N was sure she hadn't blushed that much the last time they had met. Maybe he had missed it?

"Oh", he ended up saying before shoving his cap deeper into his face. This was...less...important? than she had made it out to be.

"I...The way you said it..."

"Oh, you don't get to blame this on me! _You_ were to one making it sound all weird and officially!", she huffed (interrupting he again – it was a pattern he had picked up on quickly. Was that normal behaviour in her social milieu? Anathea and Concordia had told him that interrupting other people was seen as rude, but she didn't seem to mind). Well, maybe she had made it out to be a bigger deal than it truly was. After all, it really only warranted a passing question and not the embarrassingly awkward build-up she had produced. But there was no way she was ever going to admit that, so instead she simply huffed again and then crossed her arms, stealing glances from the boy trying to judge his reaction.

He simply stared at her. It would have been cute if it hadn't been so creepy.

After a minute, Touko decided that it had become too awkward. First of, she had fully intended to flirt a bit with him (just to see his reaction, as per Bianca's instruction) and she didn't get to do that at all and second of, this was more awkward than that one time Cheren and she had had a mutual crush on each other (they had been _five_ and never told a single soul so it didn't count!)

But anyway. No wasn't the time to reminiscent about days long gone. Now was the time for answers!

"So, whaddaya say?"

Touko slightly slurred while speaking, turning around in a over dramatic way, trying to dissolve the strangeness of the whole situation (one question! She had asked one, single question!), but it didn't seem to work and now, with her arms somewhat spread and that stupid grin on her face she looked like an idiot.  
And he just kept starring at her. Oh for the love of…

"Whaddaya?", he suddenly inquired and then (and then!) took out a notebook and a pen. He even _clicked_ it for emphasis.

"You...what are you doing?"

"Oh, I have yet to learn about the meaning of the expression "Whaddaya" and therefore would like to take notes of your expression."

She blinked. Looked at his notebook. Blinked again. Looked at his pen.

She seemed to have trouble processing the information she just had received. Trying to ger her attention, he cleared his throat and it seemed to work.

"What do you...", she murmured. He frowned. Hadn't he just...Oh, well.

"As I just stated, the term "Whaddaya" is..."

"No, no, it's..."Whaddaya" means "What do you". That's...That's all, You know? I, uh, I asked what you'd say to becoming my battle buddy..."

Oh. That made sense. Quickly he scribbled her explanation down

"Huh. That's weird..."

He had said those words without realizing how she could view them and once he noticed she may connect them to his earlier, accidental, insult, his eyes shot open in horror.

"Oh, ehm, I didn't mean to, you know..."

He really wanted to bite his lip right now. He really wanted to.

"Anyway...", he cleared his throat, feeling a blush heating up his face. Why did she make him feel so nervous? Why was he stammering? He was a King! He wasn't supposed to stammer!

"I, uh, would love to be your battle buddy?"

The girl beamed at this and gave him a wide smile (a wide smile that looked beautiful on her, he had to admit) and then, to top it all off, she got on her tip-toes and _ruffled his hair_.

"Great!", she exclaimed, before backing down again. She stopped beaming approximately two seconds after the short-lived action and one second after she noticed that N simply _froze_.

She then turned pale after yet another second and defensively extended her hands in front of her, shaking them panicky.

"Oh, oh! I'm sorry! Was that too much! I...I tend to get close to people rather quickly and I, uh, I didn't want to like, invade your private space or anything. You now, everyone has their own boundaries and stuff..."

She blushed again. Was she embarrassed? That would make sense, actually. Though, he didn't know why. Was she scared she had offended him? After he had just done so twice? A bit of payback was something he had expected, after all for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And really, he hadn't minded her ruffling his hair all that much. Sure, it was in disarray now, but he couldn't care less (for most of his childhood he hadn't even known what a brush was!) and the action felt...friendly.  
Was it not a friendly action? He'd have to ask Anathea and Concordia about that. By the original dragon, he'd have to ask the two _a lot_ of questions after today's conversation.

But then again, he could just ask her. She had been rather open and welcome to his questions.

"Is that something people usually do? Ruffling someone's hair?"

"No, uh, I'm just..."

Weird. She had wanted to say weird. For a second Touko glanced at N, biting her lips again. He was smiling contently and somehow it felt a bit smug. Screw him _and_ Bianca.

"Strange. I'm just strange."

At least she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of using the exact same word.

N nodded. So it wasn't normal. Well, he shrugged, there was no reason to get all worked up about it.

"I didn't mind it, you know. It felt nice."

If Touko had been blushing before, she now looked as if she was having a fever. Sadly, she wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Are you feeling alright? Did I insult you again? I really meant it when I said I didn't mind. In fact, it felt nice, your hands were rather calm..."

"WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?!"

Touko suddenly twirled around and faced him, cheeks still colored red, though now she was additionally biting her lips.

"What..?"

"You...you never answered my question! What's your favorite color? Mine's pink. No, green. No, uh, blue. Yes. Blue. I'll settle on blue!"

She twirled back around and started to stoicly walk in one direction. N doubted she knew where she was going and after a second he followed her. He didn't want her to get lost and her demeanour didn't seem to indicate she wanted to be left alone.

She had just asked a question after all.

"Mine is white."

He hadn't ever thought about what exactly was his favourite colour before, but white seemed to fit.

"White? Pfft, that's a boring choice."

Well, Touko seemed to view that differently.

"Why? What's wrong with white?"

"Wrong? Nothing! It's just so, you know..."

Touko dismissively waved her hand in front of her, her blush having been greatly diminished.

"So _bland_. There's nothing to it. It's boring!"

"Boring?"

N raised an eyebrow. White was...not, it wasn't!

"It's not boring! It's truthful and innocent and spotless. It's perfect!"

"Yeah, duh! That's the point! It's boring! Everyone likes white! There's...nothing to it! It's the safe choice! It's the choice that offends no one!"

"But blue is better for what exact reason? How is blue not a "safe" choice? Blue is the colour of water and everyone likes water!"

N wasn't sure why exactly they were discussing this – it was a matter of taste and taste was difficult to discuss – but he found himself enjoying the mock debate. Maybe it was because this was indefinitely better than the awkward conversation they had before. Maybe it was because she wore a smug smile that he found to fit her face perfectly or maybe it was because he had never been allowed to discuss such trivial matters before in his life.

It was probably a mix out of all three of them.

"Well, if you choose blue, you antagonize everyone who chose red. And also, point and case, I can name at least three people at the top of my head who don't like water!"

"And who are those three people if I may ask?"

"Well, there's me, there's..."

"Your first Pokémon is a Water-type!"

N flinched when he interrupted her. Had he interrupted her ever before? It could have been, he tended to get rather passionate when it came to the liberation of Pokémon

"So what?!"

And then she went on, talking about how his choice of favourite colour (to be fair – he _did_ start to regret having picked that particular colour, preferring to settle for blue for a reason he was not willing to say out loud or even _think_ ).

She didn't care that he had interrupted him. It almost felt as if she was used to it.

N smiled. He could get used to it too.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had way too much fun writing the scene where Bianca tries to set up Touko and N and is somewhat successful (after all, they exchanged pone numbers and I'm contemplating of giving Anathea some access to N's VisoCaster at some point just to spice things up a little).
> 
> Fun fact: When I first wrote this chapter, I didn't play on the Daycare to be the local nightlife scene and I just wanted to make clear, that it is not a night club. Just a bunch of bonfires and a nice atmosphere, like a constant, unsupervised school trip basically, if that makes any sense.
> 
> However, when I started writing it I realized that I wanted there to be quite a lot of people and with Touko being a bit behind, only having trainers be there would be weird. Therefore, this is the new daycare.
> 
> On a different note, looked up the actual dialogue taking place in the Dreamyard between the grunts and Ghetsis/Musharna. The whole tone/meaning is rather different than what I chose, but I want to try and keep the Plasma evilness at bay (for the time being), because of plot reasons I won't disclose yet. Therefore, the conversation is rather different from the game. In the game they basically directly admit to being evil and I view their organization differently.
> 
> Note Two: While writing this chapter I realized you have to battle both grunts (and one of them is female, so, uh, oops?) in the Dreamyard but for theatrical purposes I ended up letting Touko battle only one. Maybe I'm wrong, but making her battle a second trainer would require her to use another Pokémon and somehow that would have lessened the impact of the battle for Lil (in my mind at least). So please, once more, please forgive me for my oversight/negligence of the actual storyline.
> 
> Also, I totally didn't have to google Newton's third theorem for this chapter. Nope, no sir, I was like, you know, totally the best in physics…
> 
> And that concludes today's chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, if you did, please do elave a kudos and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!
> 
> Read you next time!  
> Bluestpaw


	10. Goldstars and Red apples don't make a christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon (luckily, because I'd completely mess it up). In addition this FanFiction has been greatly inspired by maydei's oneshot "The Truth will prevail", which is amazingly written, so make sure to give it a read ^^
> 
> Other than that, Merry Christmas (and a happy new year) and I hope you'll like this (rather short) "Christmas special".

Too Little Colours To Describe The World

Chapter 10  
"Christmas special"

Goldstars and red apples don't make a christmas

* * *

Legs were moving, nails were being bitten, hands were fiddling with sleeves. Curious eyes were dancing from one light to another and soft music was playing in the background.  
It was Christmas. And it was almost present time.

Now, Touko, ever the curious, had already figured out what she was going to get (her mom should get better at hiding things). She was pretty happy (though it wasn't a Pokémon or Pokéball, so that was a bummer!) with what she was going to unpack, however, that wasn't the main cause for her excitement (After all, the suspension was alread gone. Right?).  
The most amazing thing wasn't the presents that she'd get not all too soon.  
It was the one presenting them.

It had been two years ago when Cheren had arrogantly announced that Santa Claus wasn't real and, of course, he had backed it up with scientific evidence. Or, well, he had _dubbed_ it scientific evidence. Touko's mother, not having any of that, quickly pointed out that he hadn't used any real data. And therefore, it was more of a hypothesis. Plus, who knew, maybe Santa Claus used Palkia or Dialga to help him bend space-time? He couldn't possibly prove that, right?

Well, Cheren had quickly rebuked that those two were as non-existent as Santa Claus himself. Though, he had been thrown into quite the turmoil at this argument (the fact their existence was confirmed just three years later made it even funnier).

Anyway.

Bianca and Touko had obviously listened to their friend's _hypothesis_ and of course, neither had been particularly happy about it. Bianca had been on the verge of crying and Touko had simply pointed out that he was wrong, because, well, _he was Cheren_.  
So yeah. They had gotten into quite a fight. Which had ended in Touko promisingto get some _real_ evidence. Thus, the three had parted ways and on one snowy evening it was finally time to put Santa's reality to test.

Touko had simply tried to rip off Santa's beard. She succeeded and revealed a rather unbearded person beneath it, also known as her very own father.  
Cheren had gotten his own evidence too, by finding out the exact time when "his" Santa magically appeared in his living room and the one of the other two girls did and then comparing the time. Whatever space-time magic he had access to, this was impossible. Right? Right? What _exactly_ were Palkia's and Dialga'S powers? Maybe he could find out...  
It was sufficient to say that none of the three believed their parents afterwards anymore. Although Bianca was in denial for at least three months, until Touko and Cheren managed to debunk the existence of an Egg-bringing Easter-Buneary too. Hard times indeed, for poor Bianca.

Their parents had tried to be furious, but, oh well, you really couldn't blame them, could you?

But whatever. No Santa Claus meant her dad was coming home tonight.

She didn't have to wait for much longer, she knew as much. The clock was ticking and he was already ten minutes late. Not, that that wasn't her dad's typical behaviour.  
Soon Touko's mother entered the room, dragging a bag filled with presents (mainly candy though) behind her, for dramatic effect. She was even wearing a white beard ( _that's_ called commitment!). Of course, Touko had been a bit confused by that, but then again, she _really_ wanted that new doll and thus, she ignoratnly jumped up and rushed to her personal Mrs. Santa. Her mother barely had the time to put the presents beneath the Christmas tree before Touko had fallen upon them, demanding to be allowed to rip the wrapping paper apart like an angry mankey on steroids.  
Touko didn't even notice her mother's sad smile while she happily opened her gifts.

Five minutes and the carefully wrapped presents were not so carefully wrapped anymore and Celine made her daughter put away the shreds.  
Another five minutes later and Touko finally realized what exactly didn't feel right.

"Where's dad?"

The girl's voice was filled with so much childish innocence, although, if one listened close enough, and her mother did, one could hear this wavering sound of...fear. She even put her new doll away.  
A sad smile crept upon Celine's lips and for a moment she faltered. She _really_ had hoped her daughter would simply...forget. But she hadn't. Arceus, how was she going to…

"Listen, sweetie, it's..."

Her voice got lost in a deep sigh as she knelt down, in front of her daughter who had already cast aside all her new toys in favor of her hands. Her blue eyes looked at her mother fearfully but there were no tears just yet. After all, she didn't accept the truth just yet.

Celine sighed again. And then she pulled out her Pokétch.

"You see...Dad...Dad's right here!"

She pointed onto the black screen. Touko followed her finger rather unimpressed. Then she frowned.

"But he's going to come, right?"

Celine's Pokétch fell to the floor. She bit her lips. Looked away from her daughter.

"Mo..."

"Sweetie, I...I told you that he wouldn't be able to make it..."

Celine felt so bad. But he had really tried to make it. He really had. However, Sinnoh's snowstorms were to be reckoned with and whatever miracles Christmas movies liked to portray...no airline would fly in that storm.

"But...You say that every year. Every year!"

Touko scrambled to her feet, knocking over her new doll in the process.

"He's coming, Mom, right, Mom? He has to!"

Celine's eyes fell to her hands, neatly folded in her lap.

"Not...Not this year, Sweetie."

Again, she bit her lip. Arceus, she had to get rid of th…

"But...It's Christmas!"

Another sigh. Another injured lip.

"I know, darling."

And then she simply hugged her daughter.

"It's Christmas!"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

"He's going to come, right? He has to come, mom! He has to!"

.o.O.o.

  


"Lady Concordia?", a shy voice whispered. Surprised, the young woman turned around, her eyes searching for the source of the words. She quickly found it, barely inside the room and pressed against the door frame. The blonde sighed melancholically and put aside the book she had just grabbed when her eyes fell upon the small shilouhette desperately trying to hide behind his hair. Then her expression softened and a sincere smile played around her lips. Swift steps brought her closer to the scared boy hugging the wall, who was intently watching the waving seam of her dress.

"What is it, N?", she asked, bowing down a bit once she had reached him. He was still uncomfortable around humans, although it had already been a full year since Ghetsis had declared him his adopted son. Though, considering the shade of his hair, many believed there to be more than just a simple adoption.

Not that Concordia headed such rumours. That was more Anathea's cup of tea.

For a second the boy just starred at her frightened, like a deer caught in headlights, before he remembered the things... _father_ had told him.

Oh, how he remembered.

He tried to stand up as straight as he could. He tried to stop his hands from shaking. He even tried to look the woman in the eyes, but soon gave up his endeavours. Ghetsis wasn't around after all, right? But what if the walls had eyes…

"The...I…The grunts...I was wondering...", he said. He didn't really know how to phrase things. Talking still felt weird and Ghetsis had told him that he couldn't just talk like "normal" humans.  
he was a prince after all.

"Don't worry so much", Concordia softly said. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, trying to assure him. Immediately, he flinched.

Her hand retreated and a sad smile took over her face.

"It's fine. You don't need to be careful around Anathea and me, remember?"

"But Ghetsis..."

"Ghetsis isn't here, is he?", her soft voice inquired. Now she fully knelt down, trying to look into the boy's eyes, but failing to do so. He tried to hide behind his hair and once again Concordia decided they should buy him a cap of some sort.

"Don't worry so much, N. Trust me."

She extended a hand and he regarded it. For a slip second she believed he would actually take it. But N was N and Ghetsis was Ghetsis and Traumas were Traumas.

He shied away.

Concordia sighed another time. Well, at least he finally dared to ask his question.

"What are all the grunts talking about?"

"Huh?"

"The grunts...they're all talking about this thing and I..."

N stopped mid-sentence. He stepped further back. His father had told him asking questions about humans was taboo for him at the moment. He shouldn't get the wrong idea after all. He was scared. But it was so weird and he really wanted to know and Zorua and he had always wondered what those lights were about and...

"Do you mean Christmas?", Concordia asked, knowing full well what the grunts were talking about. Team Plasma didn't have an official Christmas celebration, so the grunts had, more or less, secretly organized their own. Everyone was excited. But really, the only reason Ghetsis allowed it was because some of the sages themselves attended.  
N's silence was answer enough.

"Christmas is a celebration. It originates from a religion I'm sure you'll learn more about during your lessons at some point."

She tried to smile when she saw his eyes light up.

"But for most people it's just a day to celebrate coming together with your family. Young children get some gifts, you meet your family and friends..."

Now, N's eyes started to look mesmerized.

"...you have a nice dinner. All that sort of things. However, of course, it's not all that cheerful on the inside..."

Ghetsis had told Anathea and her plenty of times about their mission. They were to raise N and they were to make sure he didn't ignorantly believe in the shiny and beautiful surface of human society. They had to tell him about everything. And Concordia wanted to, she really did, but then….she hesitate. It just didn't seem fair. Seeing him all get excited at the simply mention of "friends and family"...She didn't want to ruin this for him.

So she didn't.

"It's fun. Really."

She smiled again. Whatever had happened to him, he was merely a child. N seemed to be deep in thought after she had finished speaking and Concordia was about to turn away, when his shy voice asked another question.

"Do...do you think I will get presents?"

Her heart sunk.

"They….You see N…No. But Christmas isn't about presents, after all. Right?"

Another smile. N's stares was evidently analysing it to figure out why it looked so weird.

And then he asked another question. This one broke her heart. The boy was a prisoner in his own castle.

But really it was Ghetsis'.

"Do you think father will let me play with _my_ friends?"

Another sigh. She turned away. Sometimes she wondered what Ghetsis _really_ wanted.

"No. I don't think he will."

.o.O.o.

  


It was late evening when Celine found her daughter sitting in the living room. All her new toys were spread out in front of her. And a lot ( _a lot_ ) of wrapping paper.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?"

"I'm re-wrapping my presents."

"Yes, I see that. But why?"

She stopped to stand next to her and looked down at her daughter's tiny hands, struggling with some tape.

"It's not Christmas without dad, so I'm re-wrapping them. If it's not Christmas, I shouldn't get presents."

There was this childish determination in her voice that made Celine smile once more.

She loved her daughter.

She truly did.

"Sweetheart, you can't...We can't move Christmas just like that..."

"Why not? You said dad can't come because of a snowstorm!"

Now her daughter looked up at her, open mouth and wide-eyes. Of course they could move Christmas. HTey had moved her birthday once too, so wehre lay the problem?  
Celine sighed. And then she sat down next to her daughter, clumsily trying to wrap a Lego-set.

"I know, but...He has an appointment with Candice and won't be able to come home this winter."

At once, Touko dropped the package in her hand and starred at her mom.

"But...Why not?"

Celine bit her lips. This was more difficult than she had expected.

"It's...complicated, sweetie. That's all."

And when she saw her daughter's eyes fill with sorrow, she added:

"But you've got me, right?"

.o.O.o.

It was a sad evening for N. He could hear all the grunts and from what he had learned so far, they were excited.

He wanted to be excited to. And he was. In a weird way.

Most importantly, it was in vain though. There was nothing to be excited about. There were no celebrations. N had just been send to his room by his latest tutor. There was nothing else for him to do and Ghe...Father didn't want him to leave his room. It was too dangerous, according to him.

And there was nothing to do. He had already read the books he had been given.

So N did what he did best. Counting. He had even figured out a way how to count until 1023 with just ten fingers!

He had been doing just that for quite some time (he came all the way to 873!), when he heard rustling outside the window, leading to nowwhere but darkness.

N had never known humans lived beneath the earth. Or, that some did. It always perplexed him. There weren't many Normal-type Pokémon that did that.  
But regardless, it made him miss his old home. He wanted to see the trees and bushes and flowers again, but all he had were ugly pictures and weird, long names, that tried to describe reality. His teacher had told him everything could be described.

N didn't agree with that. His tutor had told them he'd change his mind eventually.  
Anyway. The rustling was weird. So, he decided to check out the source of noise. He found it fairly soon.

It was Zorua.

His best friend, Zorua. Standing there, outside his window, scratching at it, begging to be let in. A few other Pokémon were accompanying him. He recognized some of them, some others he had never seen bevore. Not that it mattered. Pokémon were friends, or rather, _most_ were.

N's breath hitched. And then his eyes lit up and he frantically searched for a way to open the window.

Eventually he found one.

"What are you doing here?!", N whispered once his friends had made their way into his room, nervously glancing at the door leading to the hallway. Ghet...Father had told him he wasn't allowed to let Pokémon into the castle. He had tried to do so several times.

At some point, he had started to regret it

"Remember the lights we always talked about?", his black-furred friend answered, ears twitching.

"We wanted to know more about those lights!"

Zorua send out pictures of kids, happily playing in the snow and of trees lighting up the winter night. And, of course, N remembered. They had always wanted to know what all of it was about. And now he did.

Somehow, it made him feel sad. But his friends were here! Right?

"Why are there no lights here?"

Zorua's question pushed N back to reality. His heart sank. Why not? Ghetsis hadn't told him why he wasn't allowed to celebrate Christmas. He hadn't said anything about why celebrating things was bad, but maybe Lady Concordia had made it out to be a bigger deal than it really was…MAybe she had lied? Humans lied a lot, right? G...Father had said so. And lying was bad.

Though, he didn't think Lady Concordia was bad. She seemed nice. Of all the humans, he liked her and Anathea most. But what if they were just a cruel as all the other humans Ghetsis talked about so often...

The boy's obvious sadness washed over Zorua in an unexpected intensity and the Fox-Pokémon quickly decided to switch the topic away a bit.

"But do you know why the humans are always so excited?"

Zorua sat down in front of his friend. The old man had always told them how much Green Hair would learn if he came along. So eventually, his best friend had given in. It was only supposed to be for a few hours each day. But, well...The man started demanding more. And he started talking. He started talking about the world. The evil humans.

And how it was Green Hair's duty so save it.

And again, N eventually gave in.

But at least he was going to find out stuff for them!

"It's...It's for a celebration I think. It's about family and friends and presents...", he said. Out loud. The moment the boy realized, he felt his cheeks heating up and for a second, Zorua just looked at him confused. Then he started laughing. And all the others joined in. Even N, after he had nervously scratched his neck.

At some point, they all stopped and the ever so curious Zorua just couldn't help but ask:

"But, if it's about friends, then where are yours?"

And at first it seemed as if N would lose he newfound joy in that instant. But then he realized that he knew exactly where his friends were.

"Right in front of me."

.o.O.o.

It was fun. They were having fun. Just like in all times. But N's palace wasn't meant to be a place for fun and the walls did indeed have eyes. That once in a while checked on the young prince. Ghetsis was furious when he saw the wild brat in his room, surrounded by _Pokémon_ , acting like he had when the sage had first found him. He had thought the boy to be above such things by now. Hadn't he given him a name? Hadn't he give him a place to stay?

sage was disgusted.

And so he took action.

Quickly he had assembled a few loyal subjects. Just as quickly they had marched towards N's room. And just like that, the happy family gathering was broken up. WIth cursing and shouting and the sounds of heavy boots.

The doors burst open. Ghetsis' one eye sparked with anger as he strode towards his son with heavy steps.

"Did I _not_ tell you how to behave?", he hissed, as he grabbed N by the collar. Instantly, the assembled Pokémon scattered as soldiers tried to chase them away. Most fled through the window.  
Not all though.

One of them decided to hide beneath the bed.

"Did I _not_ tell you you're not allowed to interact with Pokémon?!"

The man's voice made the boy quiver in fear. What, how...No. No, no, no, he should have known…

The man starred his son in the eyes, anger and disgust being the only words he was saying that N could truly make out.

What was wrong, it was just a small gathering, why couldn't he…

"DID I _NOT_?!"

Ghetsis started shaking the boy, trying to get _some_ kind of answer from this infuriating child other than his blank and inhuman eyes starring back at him.

Of course, Ghetsis couldn't hear him apologize. And at some point N was too scared to even think of that. All he could think of were his friends.

He felt them running away. He saw some of them trying to evade the grunts. His shaking intensified.

"TALK TO ME!", his father roared, as he started to pull him away from the carpet he was sitting on.

And while he was scrambling to get to his feet, he could, for a split second, see his best friend's blue eyes glowing in the shadows.

Zorua hadn't left.

Yet.

"Please don't leave!", he whispered, as the door came closer and everyone else had been scared off. But his friend didn't answer and lowered himself deeper into the shadows.

"Please don't leave, Zorua! Please don't leave!", N started to frantically called out as he got dragged him away. And of course, Ghetsis didn't hear him. They shared the same name. But they didn't share the same gift.

Panic stricken Zorua watched his friend getting pulled along by this man, claiming to care about him. It was terrible to see. If he were a Zoroark, he'd attack that man.

But he wasn't. And his friend was long gone while all he could do was cower in the shadows. And his friend's words rang in his ears.

Please don't leave.

"No, never", Zorua answered, hoping, that somehow is words would reach the frightened boy.

"NO. NEVER!"

.o.O.o.

"We really shouldn't wake him this late in the evening...", Concordia whispered, but Anathea was having none of it. She intentionally made the door creak as she opened it and sneaked into the lavishly decorated room.

  
It looked like a study, for someone in a position of power. For someone like Ghetsis. There was no sign of it being inhabited by a child. Other than the sobbing, coming from the other side of the room.  
Anathea had never been happier that she had made a secret copy of the sage's key.

"You see! He's not even asleep in the first place!"

She pulled her sister into the dark room and closed the door again, locking it from the inside.

Anathea enjoyed defying Ghetsis' orders. She just didn't like doing it openly. The two sisters weren't the first ones tasked with raising this child.

The sobbing stopped. The boy was probably too scared of whoever had entered the room and tried to still his breathing, though he did not quite succeed in that. Anathea almost chuckled. Almost. Then she remembered why N behaved that way and she stopped herself.

"Come on now! We're scaring him!", she said, before making her way through an empty room. Once she had reached the bed, she sat down at its edge and softly whispered the boy's name, hoping hhe would trust them, after half a year, that he would finally trust them...

"N. N. I know you're awake."

His reaction wasn't the one she had hoped for. First he froze and when she reached out to push his blanket aside he _fled_ to the other side of the bed, his grey eyes looking at the woman fearfully. She sighed.

"I told you we should give him some space...", Concordia murmured. However, she followed her sister suit nonetheless and looked at the pair of eyes starring at them underneath covers, made from silk.

They boy's cheeks were red and whether that was because of Ghetsis or because of crying, neither of the sisters knew. Ghetsis' beating never got too bad – at least, not in his perspective. He would never scar his future thing, he argued. Never.

How utterly ironic.

"Hey. N. Remember how Concordia told you about Christmas?", Anathea asked, before producing a small package seemingly out of thin air. It was wrapped in a white paper sheet and bound by nothing but a red ribbon, seemingly taken from one of the woman's wardrobe.

"We brought you a present!"

She smiled. She knew he was scared, but she also knew he didn't dislike them.

There was just this knowledge that he didn't.

N had always admired Anathea's smile. It was the most sincere thing he had ever seen – courtesy of growing up with a trickster Pokémon. He was automatically drawn to it and the present...was so intriguing. He had never seen something like that before, other than from afar. It beckoned him to come closer.

And so, after quite some consideration, N left his protective layer of blankets and cautiously grabbed the package.

He retreated once he had it, but he never fully returned to his own castle.. Not unlike a wild Pokémon snatching berries from one's hand.

N looked at the present in wonder, unsure of what to do. He liked the way the ribbon looked. The pattern...There was something so precise about it…But both women encouraged him to open it. And so he did. Carefully he opened it, making sure to not break the paper in the process and then, finally, he revealed a…

"It's a cap", Concordia said, guessing his thoughts,"You can put it on your head."

He stared at her for a moment. The way she sat there and smiled...She seemed sad. Was she sad? She communicated sad things, but then again, he knew humans didn't use the right way to talk to each other. Was she really sad? The other woman seemed to behave differently, her eyes looked different and for some reason, so did her smile. She sat up straight and her sister didn't and something was off.

Was the woman trying to hurt him? Was this really just a simple piece of clothing, was this…

"Here, let me help you", Anathea said. She picked up the cap and moved closer, just to put the item on his head and arranging his hair properly. Then she pat his head and gave him a bright smile.

"You see. It's just a cap. Nothing to worry about."

N saw her smile, of course, and felt as if it posed a question to which he had to response. So, he tried. He tried to smile. It was a weird smile, him barring his teeth at all, and it failed to reach his eyes, but the two girls would take it, no matter what. Anathea even chuckled, before snatching his hand and pulling him closer.

"It's like we're having our very own Christmas, right here!", she mused. Concordia nodded. And her smile lost all the sadness it had carried.

N, however, looked at them with big eyes. Retreated a bit (although he made not move to remove the foreign item on his head). Then he glanced at Concordia. For a second his eyes rested on her, before he cast them down again, too afraid to insult them.

Ghetsis had told him starring at things was insulting. But how was he supposed to understand everything, if he didn't stare at it...

"But Lady Concordia said Christmas isn't about presents. It's about family and friends."  
he was scared now. Had he said something wrong. Maybe they thought just like Ghetsis and they started shifting their bodyweight already and…

"Of course it is. But that's why we're here too, after all. We're family. Right?"

.o.O.o.

Just like always, Touko was up early. Just this time, she didn't want to leave her bed. Why would she?

Christmas sucked. She hated it.

She hadn't even bothered to collect her presents yesterday.

Biting her lip she turned, looking outside. It rained. It rained! It didn't even snow!

The brunette was grumpy. This all sucked. She even ignored the doorbell, rung three times in quick succession. She even ignored her mother's repeated calls. Chirstmas sucked. Today sucked.

Everything sucked.

However, Touko _couldn't_ ignore her best friend storming into her room.

"TOUKO, TOUKO, TOUKO, TOUKO!", the blonde exclaimed, throwing herself onto Touko in a failed attempt to hug her.

"EEEEEK! Get off me!"

Struggling for air Touko struggled out of her friend's hug and jumped out of her bed. Her mood changed, that was for sure, but Touko didn't exactly know _how_. Was she annoyed? Not really. Was she angry? Not really either…Anyway. She had gotten out of bed and that had been Bianca's goal all along.

However, she didn't quite smile just yet.

Bianca knew how to change that though.

"I have great news, Touko!", she exclaimed, getting up herself.

"My dad came home?!", Touko asked, jumping up once more, her eyes filled with hope and excitement. Her expression faltered once she saw that her friend wasn't looking at her anymore.

"No...", Bianca said, her voice taking on a strange, evasive tone. But then she looked up again, her infectious smile spreading across her face like it always did:"But mine is!"

Seeing that her friend's disappointed expression didn't change, she quickly added:

"My dad's a meanie, just like yours! And he is overweight, old and bald, just like yours! It's a prefect match!"

Touko still didn't buy it. She sat down on her bed once more, playing with her blanket's seam. Life sucked. Not even some as cheerful as Bianca could change that.

"Hey...", Bianca murmured. She sat down next to her friend and although he smile lost intensity, it wasn't gone just yet.

"I made my dad dress up as Santa Claus a second time just for you! And Cheren and I even wrapped your presents for you! It's going to be just like Christmas!"

At this, Touko finally looked up. And her sadness dwindled just a little bit.

"R...Really?"

"Of course! It's going to be amazing!"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A late Merry Christmas! Or, in case you were celebrating something else/are going to celebrate something else, I hope you'l be able to enjoy it through these trying times ^^
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter - technically speaking it was last years special and also, technically speaking it was chapter seven, but nevermind. Depending on how fast I write, I might be able to get a New Year special done on timethis year - also, I will hopefully get the editing done for chapter 11 any time now.
> 
> Anyhow, happy new year and see you next time!


	11. Two Red VisoCasters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> |I hope you don't mind my late response, battle buddy, however I was occupied this morning and did not want the prying eyes of my company to intrude onto our conversation. Their input (I apologize for telling anyone else – I am unsure whether this was supposed to be a secret pact) however prompts me to take you up on your offer of another battle sooner rather than later. If you are willing that is.  
> Sincerely  
> N

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Internally celebrates because there are more formatiing options on AO3 then there are on fanfcition.com meaning I can make the texting look smoother).
> 
> Anyhow. No New Years Special - but chapter 11 (which means we're getting close to catching up with the original!) But that'S enough of me - I hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you at the end!

Too little colours to describe the world  
Chapter 11  
Two red VisoCasters

* * *

They didn't start their questioning the moment Touko came back home, much to the brunette's relief – it was way too late to deal with a grinning Bianca. But it was too late for the blonde to mock her friend with annoying implications and both, Bianca and Juliet, were deeply asleep by the point that Touko made her way back to the tents. At some point during the night Bianca had texted her, saying that they had already picked up her team and she didn't have to worry about that anymore and now could simply enjoy the rest of the night with her spontaneous date. Obviously, Touko had denied that it was a date, but judging from Bianca's response the blonde didn't believe her one bit. And Touko knew she was in for a questioning tomorrow.

She just hadn't anticipated to get thrown out of bed for it.

"Hrngh..." "Get up Touko! What happened? I need to know!" The blonde was basically jumping up and down _in_ Touko's tent and an overexcited Lil was doing the same thing next to her (though Furball didn't quite understand _why_ they were doing it – her trainers friends were weird!). The only difference between both of them was that Lil was allowed to be in her tent and Bianca definitely wasn't.

"Bianc, get out!", Touko murmured, pulling her covers over her head and startling Ollie in the process, who had been sleeping up to that point. Grumbling the Oshawott snuggled back into the warmth of the covers, not before shooting an angry glare at the sudden commotion. The only one who wasn't noticing any of this was Emblitz, who hadn't been called out of his Pokéball yesterday night. Touko had thought about it, but somehow she felt as if he'd try to burn a hole into her tent and try to make a run for it. It made her feel guilty, but she just couldn't risk it. She had planned on catching a Pansear in Pinwheel Forest for her third badge and getting her hands on one earlier had simply played into her cards. At least his frosty behavior would make it easier to let go of him. Like she planned to do with Lil. Touko gulped and ignored her inner voice telling Touko that Lil's removal from the team was overdue already.

"I can't get out until my curiosity has been quenched." Bianca's voice was a welcome distraction from Touko's future. "And now spill. I want to know _everything_. Did you talk? Did you kiss? Did you _make_..." "I swear to Arceus, Bianc, get the hell out of my tent!", Touko growled, trying her best to mask the blush creeping up on her skin. Mew, what had got into her friend?!

"Aww, come one! Don't be like that!", said friend responded, but then the blonde gave in and left her tent, Lil happily trailing after her. Touko fell back into her bed, holding her pillow in front of her, not willing to get dressed just yet. She wasn't in the mood for Bianca's antics right now – it was too early for that after all – but she knew that the moment she set foot out of her tent, she'd be cornered.

Not that anything had happened, of course! After all, she had simply established they were friends! But she had never been one to socialize with a lot of people and Touko knew that Bianca would jump at the opportunity to tease her about it.

Knowing her luck, she had probably already called her mum and told her everything about it.

Eventually, Touko put the pillow back where it belonged and grabbed some clothes out of her bag. Simple pants, a white T-Shirt and her favorite black vest. It was getting colder and Touko had felt rather cool for most of their, Bianca, Juliet and hers, impromptu swimming expedition yesterday, but she refused to acknowledge it. Summer was her favorite season and Touko was stubborn enough to believe that if she simply _ignored_ the change of season, it would totally work out.

Five minutes later and Touko emerged, after having gone through the trouble of waking Ollie up. She played with the thought of letting Emblitz out of his ball too, but then decided against it. She didn't want to deal with the Pansear's foul mood this early in the morning and most importantly she most likely wouldn't have the energy to do so.

Bianca was merciless.

And, truth behold, the moment Touko crawled out of her tent, the blonde was on her. Juliet was sitting next to her, smirking and sipping coffee from a thermos.

This was going to be the end of her, wasn't it?

"Sooooo...How did it go? Did anything happen?" At first, Touko felt like blushing, before deciding that _there was no reason_ to blush and instead simply shrugged. What was she afraid of? This was her friend and there was nothing to be embarrassed about!

"We, uh, we talked." Never mind, she was blushing again. Great. Amazing. Good job. At least Bianca didn't seem to notice. "Yes. I get that. What did you talk about?" "His favorite color?" Touko smiled awkwardly at the sight of Bianca's exasperated smile that followed her words. Juliet was not so subtle snickering and quickly took another sip once Touko glared at her.

"Touko...", Bianca drawled, clearly displeased with the amount of information she had got so far. "We...Uh, his favorite color is white?" Touko silently cursed herself. Why did that sound more like a question than an answer? But it seemed to somewhat placate Bianca:"Ugh, how boring. At least it's better than black..." And then Bianca's unsettling inquisitive expression was back and Touko could feel herself visibly _shrink_.

"And, uh, we talked about other stuff too! Like, for example..." Touko paused. They had talked about plenty of things. About the fact that she didn't like water (it just tasted _horrible_! And rain was the _worst_!), how he agreed that summer was the best season out of all of them (He had said he liked seeing young Pokémon in their early childhood and that he hadn't known it was always so hot – which may make him change his mind), how he was amused by the fact that she didn't have a concept of personal space (he had told her rather bluntly - Touko had blushed and tried her best to mind this barrier, something he picked up on quickly, assuring her it was fine and he found it rather refreshing which lead to even _more_ blushing) or how she found it interesting that he didn't know much about being a trainer (he had scoffed at that for some reason). They had talked about plenty of things, but she wasn't supposed to start. It had been just like when they had met up after their first battle and if Touko was honest, she may have developed a bit of a crush on him. Obviously because of Bianca and not because he was easy to talk to (though awkward at times) or because something about him intrigued her – if she hadn't become a trainer, she'd become an archaeologist, that's for sure!

But whatever was the case, Touko had clicked with him and she told Bianca as much. The blonde girl's eyes lit up and she started snickering a bit, but kept her teasing to a minimum. Juliet had by now disappeared to get herself another coffee (according to Bianca she had stayed up late to chat with someone) and Lil and Ollie were to busy talking to Emblitz. Touko had decided to let him out by now, because she just couldn't stand her guilty conscious any longer and she was positive that Bianca offered enough distraction for her to be able to ignore the deadly glares he sent her way. She felt bad for him, but he was just too much. She could deal with Ollie's shyness, but he seemed to outright _hate_ her.

"Alright, so other than the fact that you're absolutely _smitten_ with him..." "I'm not smitten with him!" "...and that he seems to like you too..." "That doesn't matter! Were _friends_!" "...he said you're pretty _and_ a great person to talk to. Also, you're a dirty liar because he wasn't nearly as good looking as you made him out to be..." "Bianca!" "….is there anything else?"

Touko huffed and let herself fall back against the wall she was currently leaning on. Her friend was the _worst_. And, ouch, that had hurt and she shouldn't have done it. Anyway.

"First of all, it doesn't even matter if he's..." "Yeah, yeah, I know, because he's so _nice_. Anyway. Come on, you can't tell me that's all. You guys just talked and that's it? That's what you did for _four_ hours?!" Touko blushed once she heard just how long they had talked. She hadn't thought it to be that long, but well...Bianca was right. That also explained why she had been so tired this morning (or rather, more tired than usual). "Well, I did ask him for his n..." Touko didn't get to finish her sentence once more, because Bianca had jumped up, startling Lil in the process. "You did what?!" For a moment, the blonde stared at her friend in disbelieve before she squealed for a solid ten seconds. "You...You what?! Girl, why didn't you tell me that directly? Why didn't you tell me _yesterday_ , for that matter?!" "You were asleep!" "Details, details, don't mind the details...Anyway! What? When? How? Why only tell me now?!" Touko's words had apparently set a fire lose in Bianca's eyes as she mercilessly stared down at her best friend, refusing to let go of her arm.

"I, uh...", Touko started but then she realized that she was going to stammer again. Touko cursed herself and buried her face in her hands. Why was she so nervous? There was no reason to be nervous!

"I kinda forgot? It was right at the beginning of the conversation..." "The date, don't make it out to be anything else..." "You weren't even there! You don't even know him! Anyway, it just slipped my mind, I guess? It wasn't the most important thing..." "Oh, yeah, I forgot. You were too busy watching his _gorgeous eyes light up_ whenever he talked about something he liked or how he can get so _adorably_ flustered whenever he didn't get anything or how extremely _interesting_ it was that he knew so much and yet so little...", Bianca trailed off, smirking at her best friend who decided that she should have got up earlier to get going before her best friend woke up. Just a small notice stating she was already on her way and then she wouldn't need to listen to her friend fulfilling her (self-bestowed) best friend duty.

"Arceus, are you guys still talking about _that?_ " Juliet was back with a refilled and now steaming thermos in her hand, groaning as she looked at the two of them, before putting the thermos away and starting to tidy up her place. Touko cringed and Bianca snickered, before turning to her friend once more.

Had this torture no end?

"Anyway. So you asked him for his number..." "Wait, she did? That's new! Congrats, I guess?" "Did you guys already set up a date?"

At once, Touko's head snapped up and she stared at her friend. A – a - a what now?! "Arceus, Bianca! No! I...I asked him to be my "battle buddy" and that's why I needed his number..." "Coward!" "After all that's why he came over in the first place. To battle. So no, no date. I fact, I haven't even texted him yet." That made Bianca pause and the blonde stared at her for a moment, before (finally!) turning away and joining Juliet ind tidying up their place. "Then text him. Set up a battle." "What? I can't just..." Bianca simply laughed and half-turned to her, a genuine smile adorning her expression this time. "Come on Touko. You like him, which is great! In fact, I'm happy for you! He willingly gave you his number and even if he isn't interested in you – which I doubt – you can set up a battle with him and see were it leads. There's nothing to be afraid of, even if you're brain is currently telling you to be nervous. So let's tidy up this place and once we're done, you can text Mr. Nice Guy and then tell me every detail later!" Bianca turned back, leaving a stunned Touko in her wake.

That sure was a rather sudden change in her attitude, but then again, it wasn't. Bianca was known for that habit of hers after all. And the blonde probably knew that there was no way Touko would text him if she kept teasing her about it.

So, with shaking hands, Touko pulled herself together and then took out her VisoCaster. There was no reason to wait, right?

| _Hi. I'm Touko, the girl from yesterday? Are you still up for a battle?"_

She smiled. There. Done. Wasn't that hard. And then, just because she could and because she could hear her heart beat faster, she added a (hopefully) flirty _"We're battle buddies after all, right?"_ to the message.

Now all she had to do was wait.

.o.O.o.

"How is your journey progressing so far, my Lord?" The faint cackling of a fire had been the only sound filling the room so far and N was glad his sisters had decided to talk to him. He wasn't the best at starting small talk (or was he? It seemed to have worked yesterday) and his sisters still tended to behave strangely around him. While they had come out of their shell recently, they still refused to drop some of the more annoying mannerism. Like, for example, addressing him as "My Lord" at any given chance.

"Pleasantly, Concordia. I enjoy being able to roam the Routes freely. In fact, I did not expect I'd enjoy it this much." A serene smile was plastered on his face and Anthea and Concordia exchanged conspiring glances. Something had happened and they knew it. N had arrived at the hotel later than expected, which had sent Ghetsis in a frenzy. The sage had not liked the fact that N had been away for so long, claiming that he was already losing his carefully taught manners – and that repeated tardiness was an affront that was not easily forgiven. Normally N would have been down for the rest of the evening, the sisters knew how much he cared for the sage's opinion. They knew that he wanted to make him proud, ever since he had gotten used to being a prince, ever since he had realized Ghetsis could help him fulfill his dream. But yesterday, he had behaved different. He had been disappointed, of course, but his apology had seemed somewhat off and didn't sound like he regretted being late at all. And then he had excused himself to his room rather quickly, suspiciously glancing at his VisoCaster time and time again. Paired that with an almost goofy smile (N knew how to mask his face – most of the time) and the two goddesses knew something was up. And now it was time to uncover what exactly was going on.

"I'm glad you seem so enthusiastic about this experience, my Lord. May I ask whether anything of importance has happened?", Concordia asked hesitantly. And then, Anathea asked, a bit more mischievously:"Specifically yesterday?" N was about to speak up, when he saw it.

Anthea smirked. She was _smirking_. Usually this would have intimidated (scratch that, _terrified_ him) because Anthea smirking never meant anything good, but he hadn't seen her smirk like that in ages and N didn't mind being questioned if it meant she went back to being normal. Thus, instead of fearing his fate, he answered honestly, smiling serenely. "I met and old...acquaintances of mine. Though, I think as of now I'd have to refer to us as "battle buddies"." "Battle buddies?" Concordia shot him a questioning glance. N disliked battling and if one trainer alone had made him change his mind, they would have to intervene.

"I was, at first, confused too, as I'm not entirely sure what being a "battle buddy" entails, however I have battled her once before and I remembered her Pokémon were rather intriguing. I figured that battling her again would be a great way to gain some more insight. Furthermore the girl in question herself seems to possess a wide knowledge of human society and I felt like spending more time with her…" He would have said "Getting to know her better" but didn't say it out loud, wary of any conclusion Anthea's mind would surely jump to. "...would greatly benefit my journey and me." N gave both of them a polite smile and grabbed for his book once more. They had been studying the recent development in Kalos' politics, a rather pleasant topic. He was distracted by Anthea's smirk though, as it grew wider once more, and it seemed to him as if she wanted to say something, but then he heard some commotion beneath the table and she winced.

Had Concordia just kicked her?

"My Lord, I do not aim to admonish you, however you mustn't forget the aim of your glorious journey. I fear this trainer may be a distraction, as too much exposure to one specific human may lead to unwanted side effects..." N knew as much. Ghetsis had told him plenty of times that he should be wary around other humans that were not part of Team Plasma's inner cycle, but he felt as if he could trust Touko. She seemed nice and honest. She was as much a victim of the system as the Pokémon were.

"Of course, Concordia. This will not distract me. She will simply help me understand humans better and her Pokémon seem to have a very different insight to what it means being a trainer's Pokémon – one that I cannot help but find intriguing. There's not much else to it."

N also refused to tell them that he greatly enjoyed her company. Anthea may not tease him anymore, but her expression were horrendous enough.

"We will simply meet up at some point and I will treasure those experiences as what they are: A new way to discover the world. In addition, I feel like I could possibly convince her to join our cause!" The last thought made him smile widely. That'd be amazing. If he managed to do that...but then, wouldn't she treat him like all the other grunt's? The idea itself made him drop his smile again. However, he didn't get long to ponder that thought though. "May I ask...", Anthea inquired, shooting her sister a swift death glare:"...as to how exactly you will contact her again?"

He had to have asked her for her number. There was no other way. Or, well, maybe she had asked him. But whatever the case, that was amazing news and also information she would file away for later, backhanded teasing. He may be their King now, but he was also a teenage boy and she, as his older sister, had her duties.

And just when N wanted to respond, his VisoCaster chirped. Confused he looked at it, before apologetically smiling at his sisters and moving to remove the object from the table. It was impolite to be on the phone while having a conversation with someone else and he had no intention of being so. However, Anthea simply smiled again and said:"Do not worry, my Lord. Our lessons can wait. Your… _correspondence_ cannot." N blinked for a few moments before thanking her silently and picking up the VisoCaster, starring at the screen. It displayed the first part of a message that had been sent to him and he couldn't stop his heart from beating faster and grinning widely, as he opened up the messenger application.

She had texted him. He had been unsure what to do yesterday, to nervous to message her himself but not wanting to not do so either. Then he had felt as if texting her the same day may seem weird to her (wasn't there like this three day rule or so?) and had opted to wait for her to make a move. He disliked being passive, but her felt that he hadn't had any other choice and it didn't matter in the end, because she _had_ messaged him and, by the twindragons, why was he so nervous?!

And then she sent a second message.

" _We're battle buddies after all."_

If anything, his heart started beating faster. She still said they were "battle buddies" Did that mean, they were friends? He'd love to be friends with her! Though, he did have to ask her about the exact responsibilities that this title entailed, as her weird terminology...

Anthea and Concordia exchanged worried glances once more. Their Lord war starring at the screen, as if he had completely forgotten their presence, and he had done so for at least a minute by now. He was smiling too! Widely!

"My Lord, may I ask what has put you in such a good mood?" Immediately, N slammed his VisoCaster around, successfully hiding the screen, a faint blush creeping up on his cheeks. "No-No-Nothing!", he stammered, which in itself was a rare occurrence. Ghetsis had taught him better than to stammer. But they were his sisters and in no place to admonish him.

Plus, they didn't really mind either.

What Anthea did mind was the fact that N had quite evidently gotten someone else's number (probably the one from that girl he had talked about plenty of times by now) and that he didn't want to tell him.

The smile she shot him was innocent, but her eyes betrayed that notion. "Well, my Lord, then I advise you to text this person called "nothing" back. After all, she does seem to put you in quite the... _good_ mood, now doesn't she?"

This whole journey seemed to be an even better idea all of sudden.

.o.O.o.

They were watching their trainers intently as they tried, more or less focused, to clean up last night's camp. There were a lot of giggles, though, as Lil noted, they seemed to be less mischievous and less focused on that other human that Soft Wave still recognized from a battle they had had a while ago. Maybe because they had to actually do something now.

The girls were having fun nonetheless. And so were their teams. Furball had taken up the spot next to Fireball, while Soft Wave was happily chattering away with the new girl's two Purrlain's. And Roasted Chestnut...Well, Roasted Chestnut had gone from glowering at his trainer (how dare he!) to interrogating Mune.

Lil didn't get it. How a Pokémon like him could be dispositioned to be "impish" was beyond her. Though, he was behaving rather serious at the time being. So maybe he was just trying to go against his own nature. Not that she had never done that before. Everyone had a bad day sometimes after all! But that didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that he was harassing poor Red Clouds and she couldn't have that (she knew how it felt getting harassed by him, which was also the reason she refused to let him sit on her back any longer).

So, excusing herself to Fireball, who smiled at her happily, Furball made her way over to the two, ears perked up as to catch every single last thing they were saying.

"But why?" "I like her. That's why. She cared for me." "But they're humans! They took you away from your family! They would trade you away without batting an eye! They don't care!" "She did." "Why do you believe that? How do you know?" Lil's ears twitched. Stupid Roasted Chestnut. Trainer had been nothing but nice to him! How dare he reject their team!

"She asked. She asked and I joined her because she's nice and it was time for me to go anyway. I'm sorry if you miss your family, Ro, I'm really sorry..." "Don't call me that!" "...but I'm sure with time you'll learn to like this new life. Humans are nice. Well, most of them anyway."

Roasted Chestnust didn't seem to like that answer. But hey, at least he left Red Clouds alone this time.

.o.O.o.

"I'm sorry."

Huh? Touko flinched, once the faintly familiar voice made it to her ears. Sorry? Who was sorry? Was she standing in the way, had she perhaps…

The brunette girl whirled around to smile apologetically at the man standing in front of her until she realized just _who_ exactly that man was. And then she flinched back again, pressing her lips together and pointing an accusing finger at him. "You! What do you want?!", she hissed, successfully grabbing Bianca's and Juliet's attention (as well as the attention of some other trainers that were on their way to continue their journey).

The man in question flinched back too, before casting his eyes to the ground and fidgeting with the fabric of his shirt. It was loose and a far cry from the uniform she had last seen him in and if it hadn't been for that disgustingly innocent sounding voice, she wouldn't have recognized him.

His hair wasn't even red! But he was here, looking guilty and shooting glances at Bianca time and time again, as if he was about to ask something.

He never did though. Instead, he looked back up at her, trying his best not to avert his gaze. Arceus, teenage girls could look _murderous_.

"I...I wanted to apologize. Uh, for well, everything. Including creeping up on you like that, but, well….I wasn't sure how else I'd do it..." The man in front of her shot Touko a sheepish smile, before diverting his eyes once more to Bianca. Her lips were pressed together and Juliet seemed to feel uncomfortable. Well, Touko would feel uncomfortable too if it weren't for the fact that she was angry the moment she realized just who exactly was talking to her. She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her, deciding to glare at him even more intensely than she already did. She didn't care that he came to apologize. What kind of bullshit was that? Did he seriously think he could just do stuff like that and then come creeping back because he had got caught?!

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have done anything to begin with!", she hissed, feeling her friend's gaze upon her:"I bet it's fun to tell people that you care about Pokémon but then you pull stuff like that! I bet..." "Touko, let it go." Bianca had stepped closer. She smiled at the man (was that _pity_?!), before turning to her best friend and smiling calmingly.

Except that Touko had no intention of being calmed down.

"What? No! He..." "Touko!" This time, Bianca's voice came out harsher and she put a hand on the brunette's shoulder. The grunt glanced at her thankfully, while still keeping his remorseful demeanor. Touko glowered at him. Juliet shifted once more, glancing at the bracelet she was wearing.

"Let it go." Bianca didn't like the grunt. But she believed him. He seemed to be truly sorry for what he had done and while it didn't excuse his behavior earlier, it was nice. He didn't have to search them out to apologize. He couldhave just moved on but he hadn't.

That alone was enough for the blonde. And in addition, it wasn't like he had done anything to them.

"He shouldn't be apologizing to us in the first place anyway" Bianca now added, not giving her friend the chance to bite out another comment. It was best to stop Touko before she even started sometimes. And she really wanted this man to get a chance to move on. So, without much of a warning, she called out Mune, looking proudly at the silhouette that was recognizable in the bright, white light. The moment it disappeared, the Munna floated to Bianca, to hide in her arms, glaring at the man in front of her, who simply stared at her back in shock.

"You...you caught it?!", he whispered, eyes wide, lips pursed. They...how...How could they?! "Of course she did", Touko answered, not giving Bianca a time to explain any further. She was mad. How dare he pretend he was all innocent and sorry after the shit he had pulled just two days ago?! How dare he come here and pretend Bianca was in the wrong for catching a Pokémon that had wanted to join her team? Was he envious because the Munna hadn't joined him? Well, excuse Pokémon for choosing actually _nice_ people as their partners instead of these pathetic excuses that called themselves Pokémon activists! _"_ Why wouldn't she? And why would _you_ of all people be interested in it? It's not like you cared about that particular Pokémon...", she then added, glaring daggers at him. His guilty expression disappeared at once and Touko wasn't surprised at all. Nice charade he had had going there. She had almost believed it.

"You know...never mind", he then hissed, glaring at Bianca who clutched the Pokéball closer to her chest, afraid that he might take it away. "Of course she caught it. I just came here to apologize anyway..." And with that, he turned and stalked away, fuming.

Of course they had caught the Munna. They were trainers. And that Munna was a rare Pokémon and had been in a weakened state. Of course they had caught it. After all, it was just yet another easy price to own.

.o.O.o.

The three girls had left the camping site together, after Touko had cooled down from her anger and Bianca had lectured her friend about common courtesy, but they knew they'd have to split up soon. Touko was planning to make a trip to a cave not too far away – roughly two days by foot – while Bianca and Juliet had decided to travel to Nacrene City together as fast as possible. Which meant that at one fateful crossroad, their little group had to break up.

"Are you sure you have to go there? I bet you can catch plenty of cool Pokémon on the route too! And I really enjoyed spending some time with my bestie!" Bianca's voice was hopeful, but Touko simply shook her head. As compelling as it sounded, Touko planned to stick to her plan as much as possible. So far, her team was right. Somehow. She had planned to catch a Pansear later on anyway (to beat the third badge – fire was a great weapon to have against annoying bugs), so having Emblitz on her team wasn't that much of a divergence of her original plan. And as long as she managed to let go of Lil before challenging the second badge, she was good to go. To keep it that way, however, meant she had to travel to Wellspring Cave to catch a Roggenrola (for that sweet, sweet normal move resistance) and a Woobat. She wouldn't be able to use it all that much yet, with it being part psychic and Lenora's team most certainly having access to some dark-type moves, but she found that particular Pokémon cute. And, having a flying type for later wasn't that bad of a choice. Especially not once she set her eyes on the third badge.

"Don't worry, Bianc!", Touko responded cheerfully. She would have given her a hug if it weren't for the fact that Ollie was still carried in Touko's arms and the Oshawott was _very_ particular about not getting squeezed too hard.

Touko wondered why.

"And it seems as if you've already replaced me anyway", she mused additionally, glancing at Juliet, who was standing a bit farther away, shyly peeking at her. Ever since they had met that Team Plasma member again she had distanced herself from Touko and the brunette couldn't guess why. Maybe her outburst had been to bad, but she hadn't even shouted!

Anyway, it didn't matter. They'd meet up in Nacrene City again – as they had promised each other – and until then it should all be smoothed over again.

"Nah, nothing could ever replace you, my dearest friend!" Bianca gave her a quick hug, before glancing back at a now impatiently waiting Juliet. "But its nice to have someone by my side. You know, just in case dad catches up to me once more..." Touko cocked an eyebrow. Her dad? _Had_ he caught up with her? Bianca hadn't said anything…

"I, uh, I kind of just ran the moment I saw him. I..." Bianca smiled sheepishly, twirling one of her blonde strands between her fingers. "I saw him at the gym. And, uh, that's also why I didn't want to challenge it. I mean, I'm kind of scared, I guess? To lose and to not be able to keep up with you and Cheren, but, you know, I'm also afraid I might run into him. He has stopped calling by now, but I know that he's still looking for me…" Bianca glued her eyes to the floor, not wanting to face Touko. Her friend was probably of the opinion to just charge in headfirst and telling her dad how ridiculous he was being, but Bianca didn't want to. Not yet, that was. Maybe in a month or so, maybe once she had mentally prepared to tell him that she was 16 and that there was no reason to treat her like a porcelain doll. But not yet. "Anyway..." Bianca coughed before Touko could respond and back was her ever so happy smile, though it was tainted by a somewhat sad glint in her eyes. "'Tis time to say goodbye. Oh, and you might want to call Cheren. I've heard he's around and wanted to visit Wellspring Cave too. Didn't he want a Roggenrola for his team too?"

.o.O.o.

Bianca was right. Cheren was on his way to Wellspring cave and he even offered to wait up a day so they could travel there the last part of the journey together. Although they were behind – Touko had traveled for almost a month now and should be close to Nacrene City by now instead of planning another two day long trip. Cheren had said his school board had apologized for keeping him from leaving, though this would get him extra credit. So it was worth it. He just hoped he'd still be able to beat the eight gym. To this, Touko had responded that all he had to worry about was not getting the badge before she did. Cheren happily accepted that challenge. And thus, a few hours later, they found themselves meet up at yet another crossroad, Cheren neatly having his arms folded and checking something on his VisoCaster. Touko noticed that she should probably do the same, to see if N had texted her back, but the moment Cheren noticed her his VisoCaster disappeared and he smiled at her smugly, coming closer.

"Surprised to see you're still showing your face after that _embarrassing_ defeat you've suffered at my hands...", he teased, though there was no malice behind his words. Touko simply snorted and shook her head. Jerk. But then she smiled fondly at him, knowing full well that this was most likely to end in yet another battle. One she wouldn't mind at all, though maybe later, once they had traversed a bit farther and set up camp.

The two of them made their way through the route, taking the more difficult path. It was a first taste of what Route 8 or Chargestone cave would be like and Touko knew she needed to get more experience when it came to traveling in harsh terrain. Cheren and Touko happily chatted away, Touko's Pokémon trailing behind them, except for Roasted Chestnut. He refused to walk and Lil refused to carry him any longer.

"So, I've heard I was replaced by a certain green-haired trainer?" It was the first time Cheren talked about this specific topic and at first Touko was caught by his sudden question – she hadn't told him anything – before recalling that he had been texting someone and knowing Cheren, that someone was most certainly Bianca. Which made a comeback much easier. "Aww, are you jealous Cheren? But don't worry, you've got Bianca after all! This is just my assurance _I_ won't end up as the third wheel!" Once the words were spoken, Cheren all but transformed into his childhood nickname, cherry boy, if going by his blushing was any indication. Then he sputtered an undignified "Wh-What are you talking about?!" before falling silent once more.

It was hilarious. He'd have to tell her eventually, if the show he had put on when they had talked about Julian was any indication. But until then, Touko would lean back and enjoy. And concentrate on her journey:"Other than training, are you planning to do anything else?" "Yeah. Catching that Roggenrolla you're looking for. Oh, and of course working towards that evolution for Verde, though that may still take some time. But I really need some extra fire power before taking on Lenora. Are you going to catch a Fighting type outside Pinwheel Forest?" "Yup. You?" "Same. Talking about catching and training – there's a small settlement not far from here. We can camp in the area. I prefer to stay close to humans instead of camping out in the middle of nowhere and the closest PokéCenter isn't en route." Touko liked that proposal very much. She tended to keep close to humans as well and a settlement meant that they might just be able to get invite to dinner.

Some people liked taking in poor, starved trainers after all.

.o.O.o.

They made it to the settlement on time. Well, not that they had to be there at a specific time, but Cheren had hoped to get to train before going to sleep and Touko had wanted a rematch. One Cheren was willing to offer and after clearing out a small space, the battle was on and over surprisingly quickly.

Cheren had surrendered once he noticed he wasn't going to win this one and he didn't want to put his partner in unnecessary danger.

"Good job, Lil!", Touko exclaimed, ruffling the Lillipup's fur on top of her head. The normal type Pokémon happily yipped, not quite being able to believe they had managed to defeat that stupid Purrloin. Cheren and Touko had settled to have the exact same battle as they had before. Lil against Fuscus. It had been fairer, Lil had trained and this time had got to use her new move, plus Cheren seemed to be unsure as to what he should do with all this nature surrounding him.

It had been a fun battle and Cheren had promised her a milkshake once they arrived in Nacrene City, an offer Touko promised him she wouldn't forget. After the battle one of their onlookers – a mother and her daughter – had offered them some food in exchange for letting her daughter play with their Pokémon. At first they had been reluctant. Cheren, because he didn't necessarily want his starter to be treated like a toy (Fuscus and Lil were out of the question after all) and Touko, because, well...There was no way she could let Roasted Chestnut close to the girl and Ollie _was_ timid. But then again, she had carried her starter all the way here. So she might as well suck it up.

And thus, the two of them found themselves in a cozy living room, happily chatting to the parents while their youngest daughter played with Ollie. The Oshawott had panicked at first, but was easily placated with some sweet berries and now that Lil was feeling better, she joined in on the fun too.

"Usually she'd play with her sister's Pokémon, but she's out and about at the moment. She'll probably come back later tonight. She has always dreamed of camping outside, but she's not quite old enough yet, so she just keeps pushing her curfew..." Cheren snickered at the father's comment, glancing smugly at Touko who huffed in response. That girl had the right idea, if anyone were to ask Touko.

"Anyway, what are you to doing out here? On your way to Wellspring Cave, I assume? You're both young trainers, though that idea of yours earlier wasn't half bad...", the mother chimed in, looking at Touko expectantly. The brunette felt her cheeks heat up in response and she chuckled modestly. Cheren shook his head, but agreed with the mother. "I didn't expect someone like you...", he gestured at her over dramatically,"...would be able to come up with a plan like that. Did you practice it beforehand?" Touko smiled proudly at the compliment and the story of how she had come up with it, a tale she was sure to tell everyone who came even _close_ to the topic because, Arceus, she was just that proud!, was quickly told. Though the reactions she got weren't the one she had hoped for. Instead of more praise, both parents frowned in concern, glancing at each other, before the father commented:"I've seen some of those guys loiter around not far from here. Lets just hope it was a single occasion and not something they make a habit out of. They _are_ rather popular after all…". Cheren had frowned too, but for different reason. "Didn't you want to switch Lil out after getting the first badge?"

The Lillipup's eyes perked up at the mention of her name (she didn't like the way the name her trainer had apparently given her sounded, but the feelings connected to it were nice, so she guessed she didn't mind), but then decided that it was far more comfortable to pay attention to the gentle hands of the girl whose lap she had currently occupied.

"I...uh..." Touko wasn't sure how she was going to respond and she timidly glanced at the Lillipup behind her. Cheren was right. She had wanted to give her up and she still fully planned to do so – but not yet. Not just yet. Maybe in a week. Maybe in two, because she just… "You know, you don't _have_ to replace her, right? Stoutland is a pretty solid Pokémon and you can never go wrong with a normal type." Cheren smiled at her, trying to make her feel better, but he failed. Touko _knew_ she didn't have to replace Lil. But Touko also knew that she really, _really_ wanted her dream team. One that didn't include a Stoutland.

"Anyway, you'll have to decide sooner or later. It won't do you any good if you're unsure whether to keep her on the team." "Don't worry, Cherry boy. I'll keep her until she evolves into a Herdier. Professor Juniper will probably have more use with one of those."

.o.O.o.

Roasted Chestnut was starring at the other Pokémon that were running around happily. They were having fun. Roasted Chestnut could see that. And he wanted to join in, he knew as much too. But he stopped himself in his tracks before his traitorous feet could drag him to were all the action was taking place.

Roasted Chestnut didn't _want_ to be having fun. He _shouldn't_ be having fun with these new creatures. He shouldn't be enjoying the comfortable atmosphere that seemed to settle over that _human_ and her so called teammates. After all, he had had all of that before he had been ripped away from his real friends. It didn't matter that he couldn't deny he could have all of it again. It didn't matter that he enjoyed the time they trained or the sparring they did or the meals with Soft Wave (not Furball though). While the Oshawott was still a bit shy around him, they got along fairly well if they didn't talk about being a team.

Roasted Chestnut had had more fun than he had expected during their time at the lake, he knew that too. Up to the point where he had tried to sneak away and had quickly been recalled, that was. He didn't know how much time he had spent caught in his confinement again – one never knew – but it couldn't have been too long. They had still been at that lake and they had spent some more time there, although his _trainer_ was now suspiciously eyeing him at all times. Roasted Chestnut didn't even know _why._ It wasn't like he had tried to run away. He didn't know where he was and having to spent time with a human was still a better option to being completely lost and not knowing _anyone._

But Lil had showed him the cold shoulder ever since, even refusing to let him ride on her back like he usually did, and his trainer had been more wary about him being allowed outside.

And her mistrust hurt him. For whatever reason. Definitely not because he started to like the girl. Or because he simply _loved_ those amazing sour bars she sneaked him sometimes. Because, after all, those bars reminded him of thee berries he had always eaten at home and the friends he had shared them with and the fun they had all had whenever they visited one of the many, many ponds. And Roasted Chestnut simply refused to give up those memories of company that he had never wanted in the first place.

.o.O.o.

Ghetsis was livid. Absolutely livid.

A girl. A human girl. Natural was talking to a _trainer_. Not that he minded - a single trainer could never deter his son of his righteous goal, but this wasn't just a trainer – he _knew_ the girl. And they had talked for _four hours_!

Ghetsis was more than just livid. He had sent Retienne after N to make sure he stayed save. To make sure he didn't stray from his mission. And now he had to hear that he had not only waster four hours, four hours!, of his journey to talk to some flimsy girl, but that Retienne had been so incompetent that she hadn't even noticed the action happening! This was...This was a catastrophe!

And he knew exactly who he had to talk to about this.

.o.O.o.

"Who. Is. This. Girl?!"

  
The moment the door slammed open, Retienne froze, her eyes fixating on the fuming sage that had just entered. Ghetsis looked livid and she had a good idea as to why that was the case. After all he had sent her after N to make sure nothing happened to him and their Lord talking to the same girl a second time – for four hours at that – could definitely be seen as danger.

"Who is she?! And why do I only hear about her now?!"", The sage all but hissed, pacing in front of the ninja. But as much as his person intimidated others, it didn't have an effect on her or her brothers. They were above such human emotions.

"I was not aware that they had exchanged contact information", the ninja responded calmly, though she tried to quiver a bit and make her voice sound unsure. Ghetsis was mad and he had every right to be so (they couldn't have a random trainer seduce their Lord after all) and not showing him the respect that he deserved would only make this situation worse.

"And _why_ did you not know?! I ordered you to shadow him and report back to me, not to take a nice stroll through Unova!", the sage hissed and Retienne _almost_ flinched back. Then she lowered her head, bowing in submission. While her Lords words were harsh, they were right. "I beg your forgiveness, my Lord." She knew better than to offer unwanted excuses. "Why? How could this happen?!" "I was aware of the meeting, however I did not want to pry to far and refused to overhear their conversation." Retienne fell silent once more, waiting for Ghetsis to cast his judgment. She knew the problem wasn't that N had talked to the girl. It was much more the state she had left him in (blissful happiness was probably the best way to describe it) and the fact that whatever the conversation had been about, it hadn't been for the cause they were fighting for.

Ghetsis' judgment came later than she expected. His face expressed several different emotions and it was clear that he was debating with himself, before he locked eyes with the ninja once more and huffed. Then his expression calmed and he turned around, his nails digging into the wrist he was holding. "It happened. I will talk to Natural – make him see reason. I assume I should thank you or not overstepping your boundaries, however I assure you, my son won't mind being overheard. There's nothing he has to hide. From now on I want you to stay close and make sure that you stop any girl shenanigans in the making. Understood?" "Understood."

.o.O.o.

Touko had planned to call her mother. She wanted to tell her about meeting up with Cheren again and how generally amazing everything was right now, but once she had picked up her VisoCaster she had noticed that N had texted her back. She had almost forgot!

_|I hope you don't mind my late response, battle buddy..."_

Touko hadn't been sure whether he was mocking her or just being strange again, but couldn't really think about it, as she felt herself become nervous once more before continuing to read the message.

_|...however I was occupied this morning and did not want the prying eyes of my company to intrude onto our conversation. Their input (I apologize for telling anyone else – I am unsure whether this was supposed to be a secret pact) however prompts me to take you up on your offer of another battle sooner rather than later. If you are willing that is.  
_ _Sincerely  
_ _N_

Touko snorted at his message. The way he phrased things sounded ridiculous and the fact that he had _signed_ a simple text message added to the humor of the entire letter he had composed. She chuckled, before texting back.

_|You do realize that you don't have to sound formal, right?_

She wondered whether he was looking at his phone right now, but he seemingly did, as she got an answer not a minute later.

_|May I inquire as to what you mean by that, battle buddy?  
_ _Sincerely  
_ _N_

| _This is supposed to be like a real conversation, you know?  
|Youre supposde to talk like you always do  
_ _|*supposed  
|No weird words or singing your message  
_ _|Argh, *signing – stupid autocorrect_

No frowned at the messages he got back. It didn't seem like Touko was putting a lot of effort into them and he wasn't sure whether he should fell offended at that. But if she tried to insult him, then surely she would do it more visibly. He didn't take Touko for being backhanded.

_|I'm not supposed to sign my name?_

_|No_

_|Oh. My sincerest apologies in that case._

_|You have never texted with someone before?_

The was he texted her sparked her curiosity. It felt like he never had, which would be yet another surprise and curious detail. Though, Touko had to admit, it would fit him prefectly.

_|I have. Though those people were my sisters and they wouldn't, much to my chagrin, dare to ever tell me such things. I'm, in all honesty, not supposed to text with other people after all._

_|Youre not? Why tho?_

_|It is related to my family. I hope to not inconvenience you with my "texting" habits._

_|Don't worry about it  
_ _|Talking about a battle though I'm more than willing  
_ _|When are you available?_

And then they started discussing dates. N wasn't going to stop by Wellspring Cave but had insisted on meeting before reaching Nacrene City – he didn't have much time once he was there, apparently, as his family had some plans he had to attend. He had offered to wait up for her and Touko had, after reassuring herself three times that it was really ok with him, taken him up on that offer.

She had just texted him which place they should meet at. There was a PokéCenter two days travel from Nacrene City and Touko knew they had some nice places for battling there. Mainly at beaches and the brunette was convinced that she had to train with some more environments. To get more experience before she got to the gyms that expected trainers to know how to utilize the environment. It started with the fifth gym and one couldn't start to early, now could they?

For some reason, Touko's heart had decided to start beating faster and now an additional blush crept on her face as she awaited his answer impatiently. Her finger were tapping against the screen of her VisoCaster and she shoved her cap into her face, unused to the new feeling spreading in her chest and really, though her entire buddy. It was a weird sense of anticipation, one that felt different from all the other rushes of _new_ that she had felt in her life before.

_|That sounds great! See you in three days then, battle buddy!_

Touko decided she liked the feeling.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is still too long, especially because this is all just set-up for next chapter. And a wrap up from last chapter, but I don't count that as actual plot. So, uh, sorry? I'm also sorry for changing so much about the way certain parts in Unova look, but sometimes it makes sense for me to do it and the Route's need to be longer than in the games anyway. Other than that, I have for once not much to say ^^ I hope you enjoyed the chapter, down below are the details of what I changed and, at then end, some information on what might happen next chapter ^^
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter and even more so if you didn't!


	12. Three different shades of blue. And almost one of black.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the white light engulfed Lil, everybody, even the opponent's Watchog, took a step back, the sounds of the cave dimming in the background as stones floated upwards, pulled by powers no one really understood.
> 
> An evolution was always special. The energy set free by one took away everyone's breath, daring them to speak up, leaving them to watch in awe as something life-changing, and almost magical, took place.
> 
> It was the same for Touko.
> 
> At first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the people who left comments under last chapter! It really means a lot to me and I'm glad for every kind of feedback that I get ^^
> 
> Disclaimer: Considering I'm low-key addicted to Pokémon-Go, I'd say Pokémon probably owns me, not vice-versa. Also, considering I've read the oneshot "The Truth will prevail" by maydei two times before finally finishing this chapter, I'd say this story is heavily inspired by it. Go read it if you haven't yet ^^

Too little colours

Chapter 12

Three different shades of blue. And almost one of black.

* * *

The flick of a wrist. The flutter of a heart. One. Two. Three. Aaand….

"Gotcha!"

Cheerfully, Touko snatched the recently thrown Pokéball of the floor, throwing it up in the air once, testing its weight in her hand, and then catching it mid-air. Gracefully, she twirled around, to meet Cheren's gaze – and promptly slipped on the cave's wet floor.

Cheren sighed wistfully as his friend let out a bunch of curses, before offering her a hand to get up, an offer that was quickly refused by Touko. She huffed once, once she stood, glaring at the Pokéball in her hand and for a second, Cheren worried her foul mood from earlier this morning (it was _raining_ after all) had returned. But then she was already smiling again and he simply shook his head.

Really, he shouldn't be surprised.

Triumphantly, Touko thrust the Pokéball into his face, waiting for him to respond. He just looked at her questioningly and she shook her head in fake exasperation and gleefully exclaiming:"Do you know what this is?!"

Cheren did, in fact, know what that was, owning plenty of Pokéballs himself, but he doubted that was the answer his friend was looking for. After contemplating for a few tense seconds, he decided to humor her and shook his head.

"I don't know. What is it?"

Cheren's voice dripped with nonchalant sarcasm, his eyes staring at her, waiting for Touko's answer. Knowing her, whatever it was was something ridiculous.

As expected, his friend pointedly ignored his tone and instead beamed:"This! This is the sign of my maturity! The sign that I'm growing _already_. Because this…"

Touko paused, a playful glint in her eyes and Cheren rolled his eyes. Well, everything was better than a sour Touko complaining about the weather and snapping at ones very existence ( _Why_ are you so loud while _breathing_ , Cheren?!). This morning had started of terribly and hadn't gotten ebtter for quite some time.

"...because _this_ is the first Pokémon I ever caught _at the right time_! It's the first time things are going according to plan! Isn't that just amazing?!"

Touko glanced at the Pokéball in her outstretched hand and her grin grew even wider.

Cheren simply shook his head and decided not to comment. He wasn't about to tell Touko that there really wasn't any reason to be such a stickler for her own rules (and really, since when did Touko _care_ about rules?) and really, he had other things to worry about. For example, finding his own Roggenrola. They had already decided to trade Pokémon if Touko happened to catch a brave Roggenrola and while it wasn't completely out of the question, Cheren didn't feel like this one was the one he was looking for.

Wellspring Cave was, like all caves, filled to the brink with Pokémon, even more so than the usual routes traversed by trainers, but that didn't necessarily mean that those Pokémon were willing to attack one. The first one they had found had simply run away, the second one had been _very_ adamant about not being caught (after unsuccessfully chucking the same Pokéball ten times at it, Cheren had gotten Touko to let it be) and the third one had scared Ollie enough to get away after Touko was too busy consoling her starter. This final one really only had appeared because it had tried to steal some food from Touko's bag.

It had almost gotten away with it too, but then Lil had suddenly alarmed the two trainer's to its presence and the battle was on.

It was also over fairly quickly, because Ollie had made quick work of the stone-typed Pokémon and Touko had whirled her Pokéball across the battlefield even faster. She had caught the Roggenrola after her second attempt and the moment the well-known click had resounded through the cave, the brunette had raced across the cave, miraculously not sliiping on one of the many, _many_ , wet spots, and had scooped up the now inhabited ball.

It was the first time that Cheren had actually seen her smile today so he should probably thank the small Mantle Pokémon. It was raining and if there was one thing that Touko despised it was rain. He honestly was surprised she wasn't still made at him after what had happened this morning…

xxx

" _Is...Is she always like this?", a tentative voice asked as a pair of green eyes observed the trainer in front of them. Cheren and the girl,_ _Mia,_ _were following Touko from a safe distance, which, however, still allowed them to hear her curse out loud whenever one of the many raindrops found their way underneath her umbrella._

" _When it rains, yes. I don't know why exactly, but she really can't stand water..."  
_

_Mia glanced at the Tympole rolling though the rain next to her and gulped. Did...Did she not like Timmy then either? But the girl had seemed so nice just yesterday evening!_

" _Don't worry about it, Mia. She doesn't hate Water-type Pokémon. Her own starter is an Oshawott after all!"_

_Cheren smiled at her before staring ahead once more and watching his friend hiss at yet another puddles she had stepped into, momentarily stopping, before the "ding" of her VisoCaster grabbed her attention once more._

_Touko really wasn't dressed the part though. Who even wore shorts in autumn?!_

" _By the way, thank you for letting me tag along, Mr. Hiogi! I wasn't feeling safe with all those weird people around and my parents almost didn't let me out of the house today because of them!"_

" _They let us stay yesterday. It was only polite to escort you to that lake that you like so much…"_

_The girl chuckled. Cheren chuckled. Tympole showed his joy by using Bubble beam._

_Touko showed her deep hatred for every single living thing in the universe by glaring at all three of them._

xxx

Another sigh escaped Cheren's lips and he shivered, scanning the parts of the cave that he could make out. One may not need flash to travel through it, but the cave was dark nonetheless.

"And? Which nature does it have?", he asked, impatiently. He didn't like dark places and while he was able to suppress this rather irrational fear, he'd prefer to get out as soon as possible.

"Gee, Cheren, chill and wait. I'm having a moment here!", Touko pouted, but threw the Pokéball nonetheless, releasing the Pokémon back into the cave.

Excitedly she waited for the bright light to fade and when it did she squealed in delight.

Only to be completely ignored by the Roggenrola, which didn't even look at her before hightailing it towards her bag that had been discarded earlier and disappearing inside. Well, disappearing as much as it could, considering this specific specimen towered above its conspecifics by at least four inches. That could either mean it was already close to evolving – which would be strange considering the Roggenrola around here were usually around level 10 to 13 – or it was just really, really tall. That _could_ be useful for what Cheren had planned for his Roggenrola, but somehow the trainer doubted this one had the right nature.

I mean, it _could_ be brave. Maybe.

Maybe.

"Touko, your newest team member is currently busy scarfing down every single edible thing you're carrying in your bag, don't you think you should interfere?"

Touko's head snapped up and she stopped staring at the spot which her new Roggenrola had occupied a few seconds earlier and now stared at her moving bag.

"Uh..."

Touko shuffled closer to the bag, unsure what she was supposed to do, with Ollie closely following her, though she kept hiding behind her trainer's leg. So far, the brunette had gotten plenty of different reactions from freshly caught Pokémon – Ollie had started screaming, Lil had started to excitedly jump around her and Emblitz had scowled at her – but none of these reactions had ever included to just be...ignored.

One could think having been caught by a trainer would elicit a less careless reaction from a Pokémon, Cheren mused. After all, it was kind of a life changing event.

Carefully, Touko grabbed her bag, jostling it a bit in an attempt to get the Pokémon out and for a second it seemed to have worked – the bag stopped moving.

And then the Roggenrola seemingly unphased continued its exploration of Touko's bag.

The trainer frowned in response and shook the bag again, this time a bit more vehemently, displeased by the Pokémon's complete and utter lack of an adequate response.

This time, the Roggenrola paused for longer. And then, it _jumped_ out, directly at Touko, with an earthshatteringly loud scream, successfully startling the trainer and her starter.

Rather ungracefully Touko let out a shriek and fell backwards into one of the many puddles in Wellspring Cave (Cheren inwardly groaned – he knew she'd complain about that at least for another hour or so), her arms stretched out behind her and Ollie jumped away from her. Once she had landed she stared at her newest team member in shock (and horror), her mouth hanging open and one hand instinctively reaching for where her bag used to hang.

For a few tense seconds nobody moved (although Cheren readied himself to call for Virdis, just in case Touko had to defend herself from a rabid Roggenrola) and then...the Roggenrola started cackling. Loud and unabashed and generally obnoxiously.

Cheren was positive he had never heard a Pokémon _cackle_ ever before.

Another few tense seconds passed in which Ollie, Cheren and Touko all three stared at the Pokémon in surprise, until Touko's expression morphed from confusion into pissed off and she crossed her arms across the chest. Ollie followed suit and both tilted their heads away from the still cackling Roggenrola with a huff.

Not, that it stopped the Roggenrola from cackling. Instead, it cackled even _louder_ and, to add shame to injury, fell backwards and rolled around on the floor.

That was, until it got hit by a stream of water that got shot straight from Ollie's mouth.

The Oshawott may be timid of nature, but, _boy_ , did she easily get mad.

And mad she was. She didn't hesitate for a second to chase the, now screaming, Roggenrola around the cave, shooting water beam after water beam at him, until Touko finally managed to call both Pokémon back into their Pokéballs. Heaving, she stood besides Cheren once more, staring angrily at the wet floor.

"Soooo...Impish nature?"

.o.O.o.

"My Lord?"

Slowly, Ghetsis approached his son, gazing out at the lake in front of them. They were still travelling together, until they reached Nacrene City that was.

There was not much time left to reprimand his son.

"Yes, father?"

"It has...come to my attention that you're spending an, may I say, unreasonable amount of time on your VisoCaster. It seems to me that your... _texting habits_ are detrimental to your mission."

Ghetsis had been livid when he had learned that his son had not only met a specific trainer a _second time_ _,_ but had also taken it up on himself to text with her. If he hadn't been furiously worried before, he definitely was now and he had almost called for a council meeting just to discuss this...this travesty and to pull Natural back on the right path. However, the fond way his son looked at the messages and the godess' excited chatter made him reconsider. His son was the sages' Lord after all and if Natural as much as protested Ghetsis' order for him to cease all communication with this distraction, the other sages were sure to side with him. Even if they secretly agreed with him (he knew for sure that Zinzolin would), they'd never openly defy their King – not over something, in their eyes so trivial. Team Plasma needed to be unified and none of them would have the foresight to perceive the danger too much human contact could pose. Thus, a council meeting wasn't the way to go. Simply calling for Natural and forcing him to stop wasn't an option either – not yet at least. The goddess were sure to spread rumours and Ghetsis couldn't have his authority undermined. No, he had to be subtler than that. He had to carefully chip away at Natural's resolve until none was left.

It wouldn't take too long.

"You...You think so?"

His son looked at him in wonder, wearing a disgustingly innocent expression. He tried to subtly let his VisoCaster drop into his bag, but Ghetsis had already taken notice of it.

"You're spending more and more time texting this girl instead of fighting for your cause."

At this N frowned.

"But father…"

"Don't interrupt me, Na...my Lord, if I may be so bold to ask for such a favour."

Ghetsis was not blind to the eyes watching them.

"You're getting distracted, I'm sure you have noticed yourself. You spent four hours talking to her last Friday and while I do not know the exact extent of your text conversations, you, more often that not, are found looking at your VisoCaster."

"But father, I wasn't needed during that time!", N exclaimed confused.

His son's protest almost made Ghetsis sigh. Almost, that was. Ghetsis was too occupied trying to figure out how to circumnavigate Natural's protest. He wasn't wrong after all. They had, in fact, not done anything during that time. Natural had been free to do whatever he pleased and even his late return that night hadn't disrupted their plans for the next day.

They hadn't _had_ any plans after all. Just travelling – they hadn't been able to get up too early due to Bronius' progressing age – and a planned speech for the afternoon in one of the farther off villages – due to Rood's insistence, the old man securely believed in the ideals Team Plasma fought for.

But Natural's way of spending his free time wasn't what had Ghetsis worried. Having Natural talk to other trainers may put holes in the carefully constructed facade he had learned about all his life and whilst Ghetsis didn't fear that his son might turn on him – you'd need more than simple words to undo years upon years of indoctrination – he was worried that those holes may make his son more... _moderate_. And they couldn't have that.

Not to mention what havoc a friend, one not chosen by Ghetsis, may wreck. No, this had to be stopped. Immediately, although he couldn't risk getting on too strong. The goddesses had insisted on Natural being allowed to make friends after all and the council had, mostly, agreed.

In short, Ghetsis wasn't sure how to proceed from here.

As it turned out, he wasn't the one having to take the next step anyway. Natural's VisoCaster (in such an affronting _red!_ ) rang and his son's attention was immediately captured – this girl had terrible timing. She barely messaged his son during the day, but now, of course, he got an answer.

If Ghetsis' senses didn't deceive him (and although he was old, he was sure he still had plenty of years ahead of him) his son even perked up and there was a happy sort of glint in his eyes that was so rarely seen.

By all that was worth something, was he really that starved for human attention? Hadn't he had his two sisters to keep him company?

Ghetsis knew, even before his son spoke up, that this was a lost battle for now.

"I appreciate your concern, father, I really do! However, I am convinced it would be beneficial for me to continue my, uh, _texting habits_. I'm learning a lot through all my interactions with her and, personally, I believe that I could even change her for the better…!"

That prospect alone made Natural's entire posture perk up in a way, that Ghetsis had tried to teach him for years. It had this innocent idealism to it that drew in the masses and it was pathetic to think that his son was only able to draw upon this inner power of his when he talked about _one person_.

"She told me about her friends and I'm positive I can do the same with them! That way I'll be able to learn more about human interaction _and_ help them!"

Natural practically beamed at the idea, before glancing down at his VisoCaster again. A second passed and he cleared his throat.

"My apologies, father. I...got swept away. I will keep more to myself the next time, I assure you, this will not happen again."

He glanced down _again_. Ghetsis took the time in which Natural wasn't looking at him to scowl.

"Was there anything else, Sage Ghetsis?"

The use of his formal title and the expectant way Natural looked at him, made Ghetsis realize that he was being dismissed. N was _dismissing_ him. Him!

Ghetsis barely concealed the scowl that once again threatened to overtake his expression and simply bowed.

"No..." He, too, cleared his throat. "My Lord."

Maybe making Natural King hadn't been such a good idea after all.

But whatever his son might think, they weren't done yet. He'd have his way eventually.

.o.O.o.

As it turned out, Rockstar was kind of a jerk. He kept escaping the confines of his Pokéball, trying his best to startle the two trainers and to annoy them to pieces.

It was exhausting.

The fact that Ollie was still miffed about having been pranked didn't help either. The Oshawott started screaming every time she saw the newest team member (it had gone so far that Touko had been forced to recall the Oshawott to go easy on everyone's ears) and even Lil was wary of the Roggenrola after he had pelted her with a rock.

Well, at least she wasn't openly hostile towards him. Ollie was, but then again, Ollie was openly hostile towards Emblitz too.

Maybe Touko should have a talk with her starter at some point. She knew the Oshawott was timid by nature, but that wasn't an excuse to antagonize her teammates.

She'd have that talk right after explaining to Rockstar why he _wasn't_ allowed to jump into puddles just to get her trainer wet. Seriously, which Pokémon would put themselves into an uncomfortable situation just to piss of their trainer? Who did that?!

Well, at least Emblitz seemed to like him. It was...something. Both of them kept snickering on and about and if it weren't for the fact that Touko was thoroughly pissed off at this point, she may have secretly rejoiced at that. Emblitz needed a good friend and if he and Rockstar got along well, that would be beneficial for the team.

It didn't make the Roggenrola any less annoying though.

Another sigh escaped Touko's lips as she narrowly dodged Rockstar, who once again had decided to jump right into her path. Arceus, couldn't she just catch another Roggenrola and be done with it? Maybe one that _wasn't_ impish by nature. Maybe brave. Sturdy. Quiet.

And Arceus, they _still_ had to catch a Roggenrola for Cheren and a Woobat for herself! This was a disaster! It was getting close to nightfall already (well, no, but Touko could pretend it was) and she was growing hungry (and so was her team, if she went by Lil's not so occasional begging glances that were thrown her way) and why couldn't those dumb other Roggenrola just show up and let themselves be ca...

"How about we head out?"

Cheren's proposal caught Touko off-guard and her head snapped around, looking at him in bewilderment.

"What..?"

"It's getting cold – don't deny it – and I'm honestly not in the mood to look for my Roggenrola at the moment..." At that, Cheren glared at Rockstar who was currently trying to push Emblitz into one of the many puddles on the floor.

Their friendship would probably only be short-lived.

"And you're hardly paying any attention to finding the Woobat you're looking for. We might as well head out for a moment, reset, have an early dinner and then head back. Maybe even change into some warmer clothes..." At this, Cheren looked at her reproachfully, or, more precisely, at her choice of wardrobe.

Truly, the days of wearing shorts and t-shirts were slowly fading.

"We've still got the rest of the day, there's no reason to hurry."

At this, Touko cast him a doubtful look, before checking the time on her VisoCaster.

"I don't know, Cheren. It _is_ getting rather late and we still have two Pokémon to catch..."

"We can always catch them tomorrow..."

"I have an appointment to get to! I have to be on my way tomorrow!"

"Or, you know, we just split up? It's not like you really need a Woobat anyway..."

At this, Touko looked away and mumbled something that _sounded_ like "But they're so cute..!" but Cheren wasn't so sure.

It didn't matter anyway. Touko had no intentions of having a Woobat on her team for long and it wasn't going to be necessarily helpful either. The second gym was normal-typed and the third one bug-typed – there were plenty of flying-type Pokémon that wouldn't lose their advantage against those due to an unfortunate second typing.

"Getting an early dinner may calm Rockstar too and you know it will help our concentration as well. Lets just head out for half an hour and then we can continue. We both need a break."

At this, Touko glanced sideways, stubbornly biting her lip. She knew Cheren was right, but that didn't mean she'd have to like it. Eventually, after watching Rockstar goad Emblitz into attacking him (undoubtedly to brag with his type-advantage) she huffed and agreed, crossing her arms in front of her.

She stalked towards the exit, passing Cheren and huffing another time. Just for good measure.

Cheren wisely decided to hold in the sigh he wanted to let out desperately.

And he had hoped her sour mood was gone for the day.

.o.O.o.

They reached the cave entrance fairly quickly. Even though they had wandered through the relative darkness for quite some time, they hadn't strayed too far from the exit, with Touko's reasoning being that "the deeper we go, the more puddles and my shoes are _still_ wet from this morning!".

There was no way in the other world that she was going to get a second pair of socks damp too.

Cheren hadn't minded either, his reasoning being bad reception int the deeper parts of Wellspring Cave. While he usually wouldn't mind, there was a champion battle scheduled for today, against Cynthia, and there was no way he was going to miss that. The Sinnoh League didn't get that many challengers all too often and having one of them reach the champion was a treat to watch every single time.

Well, if you weren't the challenger's family. Cynthia decimated pretty much everyone.

Touko had already agreed to watch it with him and his data plan was better.

It was only when the two of them stepped outside the cave, that they realized the problem with their plan: It had rained. A lot. And everything was still dripping wet. It hadn't stopped raining when they had first entered the cave and they didn't exactly know when it had stopped either. And while it was still September and the weather _could_ still be warm, today was no such day.

Having a picnic was out of the question. Maybe they'd be able to find a dry spot beneath the canopy of the forest..?

As it turned out, they didn't have to.

"Hey!"

The voice that called them was unfamiliar to both of them and they turned around, facing a young man not too far away, jogging up to them. He was wearing sneakers, brown pants that had seen better days and a once-white-now-more-grey t-shirt that looked slightly torn. His pockets were full with what Cheren deduced to be six Pokéballs and a Swoobat was trailing after him.

"Are you guys trainers?", the man called, coming closer. Cheren glanced at Touko who glanced back before shrugging and then leaned back, as if to put as much distance between them and the stranger as possible.

Everything about him practically screamed "experienced trainer!" (not yet old enough to count as a veteran but he was definitely more than just a student taking his one year break) and whilst that usually was a good sign – young trainers were quick to brag and thus it was easier to draw training secrets from than from actual veterans – it might as well be bad news. Being a trainer was a dream for many and just like acting and singing just as many failed to live off of that dream alone. There had been plenty cases of some idealistic fool who "just needed one more year" turning bad – which included robbing weaker trainers.

One could never be careful enough.

But one also didn't want to miss out on free advice.

"Uh...yes we are, why?"

Cheren eyed him suspiciously and the man laughed in response, coming to a halt in front of them.

"Sorry for my appearance. I've just been camping out around her the past few weeks and that's what you look like if you haven't been close to civilization in three weeks..."

He chuckled and apparently expected Touko and Cheren to do the same. But they didn't. Touko, because she was still mad at Cheren for being reasonable (and, you know, _rain_ ) and Cheren because he didn't fully trust the man in front of them.

Said man nervously rubbed his neck. Man, he knew why he hadn't followed through with that idea of becoming a teacher. Those kids were _harsh_ , man! But he had come this far and backing out now would be weird too.

"So, uh, you know that girl, Mia? The one with the Tympole called Timmy?"

"Yes?"

"Great! She's basically like my younger sister. Y'know, the typical "not many people are around so everyone's like family"-business. Anyway, she called me today and waxed poetry about those nice two trainers that told her so much about being a trainer...not that she couldn't ask me, but I guess I'm not cool enough? Anyway, I was on my way here anyway – Actually Swoon back there is from here, wanted to check out if we can find his family. I, uhm, I'm getting off track, am I not? Anyway, I saw you two, thought of her and though "hey, those two match the description" and decided to say hi. I hope you guys don't mind? Oh, and my name is Leon, by the way!"

Leon smiled awkwardly at them, but Cheren felt himself relax nonetheless. The guy seemed nice enough and he _really_ wanted that advice.

And knowing Touko, she wasn't going to say much. She hadn't like Mia either after all (to be fair, the girl _had_ pestered her about how she could be a trainer and hate rain), so it was probably up to him to extend the conversation.

"Uh, no. We don't-We don't mind. So...Hi?"

Cheren smiled awkwardly too. Shifted from one foot onto the next. Wondered where his usual composure was.

Touko's arms were still crossed, but at least she relaxed a bit. Leon seemed to notice and a wide smile spread on his face.

"Great! You guys are looking for a dry patch of land, right? To rest a bit? I know just the place, it's a five minute walk from here. Was built for trainers, because, y'know, we have a lot of rainfall in this place. Might want to get used to it..."

He chuckled awkwardly.

Neither of them moved.

Surprisingly, it was Touko, who eventually broke the silence, letting out an annoyed huff before gesturing to the Swoobat still loyally floating behind its trainer.

"Did you catch that Swoobat in Wellspring cave?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"Do you know any cool tricks on how to lure them out How to make catching them easier?

For a second, Leon just stared at her (thus missing Cheren's exasperated sigh – he knew where this was going), before blinking once.

"Tricks…?"

"Yeah? Like...Like finding specific berries to lure them out, or building a trap or something like that!"

Touko looked at him expectantly. Leon simply blinked again, before his eyes lit up in realization and he asked, grinning wildly now:"You watched "Morning Star"?"

"Yep", Touko simply answered. It was enough to make Leon laugh though. No awkward chuckle, but some honest laughter and for a moment Cheren was wondering whether Touko had done that on purpose or if she just hadn't though her question trough.

"Frickin' "Morning Star"...Tell you what, girl, why don't you two invite me to a late lunch and I'll give you guys some advice on how to catch Pokémon?

.o.O.o.

Anthea and Concordia had been as much raised by Ghetsis as N had. He saw them as N's sisters and although they were almost seven years older than he was. They had been adopted at the age of fourteen and Ghetsis was as much a father to them as he was to their Lord.

That didn't stop them from disliking him though. Be it because Ghetsis didn't mind their opposition – they were not to gain any political power after all (he did seem to forget just how close to N they were) – or because he didn't view them as threat – he was still stuck in the last century after all – but Ghetsis had never been all too strict with them.

Maybe they were daddy dearests little princesses after all. Who knew.

Whatever the reasoning, Anthea and Concordia had been allowed to form their own opinion of things around them. Which meant they harboured a great dislike for the sage sometimes and great loyalty to their brother all the time. A dangerous mix when it came to Ghetsis trying to pull any power moves like he tried to right now.

Especially Anthea had trouble holding still while they were shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation N was having with his father. After all, they were 24 now. If they had a normal life, they'd be in university. Meeting with their girl friends and gossiping over tea.

Or, that's what they've been told about university anyway.

Whatever the case, students were rebellious and free and Anthea and Concordia (especially Concordia) used that as an excuse to break various rules around the castle and/or party of delegates sent out to Unova.

It wasn't that they didn't trust Ghetsis. He may be strict and harsh, and sometimes a bit unreasonable, but he was also their father and the leader of the organisation that would change Unova for the better.

But sometime he forgot that N was almost 18 now and had been crowned King and that Ghetsis needed to stop sheltering the poor boy.

Like he was doing now. Well, trying to anyway.

"I appreciate your concern, father, I really do! However..."

Concordia had trouble not grinning like a maniac when she heard N actually arguing back. She was pretty sure N wasn't aware that his father wasn't just _concerned_ , otherwise there was no way he'd talk to Ghetsis like that. But it was a beginning and it was great. Finally, _finally!_ , Natural was spreading his wings and trying to break free. It was refreshing to see him do it, although Concordia had known, ever since he had started on this journey, that this day was going to come sooner or later.

Anthea, on the other hand, was seething.

Concordia was the goddess of freedom. And she the one of love. Not just romantic, platonic as well and while Anthea would never deny anyone's claim that she was indeed a hopeless romantic, she knew that giving N and that mysterious other trainer a shipping name already may be a bit too early. But she could see the way his eyes lit up everytime he received a text from her and she knew how glad he was to have another friend, other than Concordia and herself. Ghetsis had always been very picky when it came to allowing N contact to other people his age. And the one friend N had made, a teen volunteer whose mother had worked for the organisation, had, at some point, left the castle with his family and had never returned.

N had been heartbroken. It may explain why Concordia was a bit less enthusiastic when it came to this new development than Anthea. But Anthea was confident this would not be a repeat of that unfortunate situation. Concordia and Anthea weren't even sure whether they could really blame that boy. Maybe his parents had panicked upon seeing him grow closer to N. Who knew.

Anyway. They had to stop this before Ghetsis persuaded N to give up his newfound friendship.

"We have to do something"; Anthea murmured, carefully acting as if she had just arrived at the scene when Ghetsis passed them.

She didn't look at her father and neither did Concordia, though they did courtesy and nod in acknowledgment of the elder sage.

"I...agree. How about some extra lessons?"

.o.O.o.

Talking to Leon had been helpful.

After he had explained to Touko, in unnecessary detail, why shows such as "Morning star" may be entertaining but in no way truthful, that was. After something that felt like an hour of him monologueing about how he hated it that Mia watched those shows too, he finally decided that was enough to it and came to the juicy, juicy details. They didn't even have to press him for any information!

Leon told them about the best ways to lure in Pokémon, watched the Champion battle with the two of them, commenting and calling attention to the details that the they themselves had missed and he even pointed out that Lil was going to evolve soon, showing them all the signs one had to watch out for.

"In her case, her fur's getting darker, if you're lucky and she's really close you may see blue hairs outside the usual spot. It's pretty cool actually."

Touko hadn't really answered when the topic of Lil's evolution came up, shrugging and smiling unconvincingly, but by then the group was already packing and neither of the other two had paid her any attention. Not even Lil, who was busy playing with Ollie in a puddle, while Emblitz scowled at them and evaded any and all droplets of water.

Occasionally, the Lilpup wondered whether she should warn her trainer about Rockstar's attempts to provoke a battle from that weird Swoobat that chuckled eerily all the time.

Whatever. Rockstar was rude anyway. He deserved to get beaten into a pulp.

Once the trainers had packed up, they made their way back into the cave. Leon promised them to stay a while and supervise their first attempts before moving on.

"I've got to stay around the area anyway - wanted to explore the deeper parts. Full of strong Pokémon – you could swim there, but the water's real cold and also, y'know, _strong_ Pokémon. No offense, but you guys aren't experienced enough yet to take them on. Anyway, I might as well stay with you guys before setting up camp later."

And that was how they found themselves back in Wellspring Cave, trying to catch their respective pokémon.

The first Pokémon to show off was a Roggenrola. Leon had told Touko to call for her Roggenrola to lure it in and it seemed to have worked.

Now they just needed to hope it was the right nature, too.

"Which nature was he looking for again?", Leon asked, while Cheren and the wild Roggenrola were battling it out in the background. He was leaning against the wall, completely ignorant to the wet stone, and had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Touko watched Cheren and only glanced at him for a second, before answering.

"Brave. Do you think this one might already be right?"

"Impossible to say. Though, it does seem to be a bit reckless..."

Leon trailed off, resuming to watch the battle. Cheren was still making some rookie mistakes, but all in all he wasn't all too bad at battling. He didn't utilize his environment as much as he could, a sure sign that he had attended a trainer school and was used to normal battle fields. For a split second, Leon wondered how well Touko battled, but then she spoke up again.

"I hope we find his soon. I can't wait to finally get my own Woobat!"

Touko squealed the last part and grinned while looking at Ollie, who shot her a curious expression. Leon glanced at her again, taking in her posture. She reminded him off himself when he had first caught his Wooloolooloo. And judging from the way she carried herself, she'd probably get knocked down a notch just like he had been, back then.

"Are you sure you want to already catch another Pokémon?"

He glanced at Rockstar who was trying to sneak off towards Touko's bag, before looking at Emblitz who was scowling at the two of them.

"Uh, yes? Why?"

He looked at Ollie, who was busy scowling at Rockstar and at Lil, who seemed to be unsure whether she should approach Emblitz or not.

Yup, that brought back some memories.

"Y'know...usually, you shouldn't add too many Pokémon to your team in short succession. Never ends well. They need time to get used to you, you need time to get used to them and all that stuff. You sure you really want this Woobat?"

Touko nodded. Of course she wanted her Woobat. And really, how bad could it be?

"I'm sure it will be fine. Emblitz isn't as bad as he looks and Rockstar is just a bit annoying...Nothing to worry about, really!"

Touko looked back at Cheren, who threw yet another Pokéball at the Roggenrola. This time he didn't miss and the Pokémon was surrounded by glistening, white light.

"I mean, no offense, but trust me. You're better off getting in tune with your team as it is first before catching another Pokémon..."

"It's not like they'll stay that long! Lil won't stay on the team for much longer anyway and the Woobat will only be there for one gym..."

Leon eyed her, before shaking her head and giving Lil a wide smile.

"You'll use her for the second gym? Do you want to pitch her against Lenora's Herdier?"

Touko hesitated, before glancing at her feet. Then she shook her head.

"Uh...No. I – she won't stay on the team for the second gym. I...uh, I planned to use her against the first gym only..."

Leon frowned.

"But then...You know that you're just wasting time training her right...Oh! 'f course! You'll evolve her for the dex entry, won't you? Clever thinking! Well, congrats I guess, coz you won't have to wait for much longer anymore!", he beamed and Touko tried her best to smile back.

At least she didn't have to answer, because Cheren decided to show up in that moment, holding a Pokéball in front of him, looking disappointed.

"Wrong nature, but adamant is fine too. I'll try again later. Now we just have to catch that Woobat, right?"

Touko nodded enthusiastically and Leon followed, though he was still hesitating.

Pah, whatever. This would be a lesson well earned and its not like she'd be the first to make that particular mistake.

.o.O.o.

Catching the Woobat was, surprisingly, easy. And amusingly, it happened almost the same way as it had with Rockstar. Namely, by Touko abandoning her bag.

To defend the Woobat's actions, it _tried_ to be sneaky. Flew past some rocks. Ducked into shadows. Waited until everyone's head was turned. But, well, the problem was that the bag wasn't hidden by shadows and realizing a wild Woobat was currently busy sniffing out your bag, trying to deduce just what exactly this thing was, really wasn't that hard.

Touko had called for Ollie (first she wanted to use Rockstar but then she remember – damn, _Rockstar_ and decided against him) within twos seconds and after a short exchange of moves she already threw a Pokéball.

Touko missed.

Luckily, the Woobat didn't seem to care as she swiftly swooped down staring at it in wonder (not without warily watching Ollie from the corner of her eyes) and, ultimately, nudging it with its nose.

The short contact was enough to make the mechanism go off and the Woobat was caught without any further trouble.

It was probably too busy nudging the inside of its Pokéball, trying to figure out what it was. If it could do any nudging. Could Pokémon move within their balls? Were they shrunk? No, that wouldn't make any sense. Touko was sure they had talked about it in physics once, but she had never been that good with numbers.

Shaking her head, Touko scooped up yet another Pokéball and then turned around, smiling triumphantly at Cheren.

"Told you we didn't have to wait until tomorrow!", she proudly exclaimed, gleefully looking at the Pokéball in her hand before calling for the newest addition to her team.

Leon clapped his hands and Cheren smiled at her, before eyeing the Pokéball in a silent plea to call out the Woobat

"Good job, you two!"

Then, turning to Cheren, he asked:"Will you look for that second Roggenrola today or do you guys want to rest for the rest of the day?"

Cheren glanced at Touko who simply shrugged. She wouldn't mind walking around some more. It wasn't much warmer outside anyway and they might as well just be done with it today.

"We'll look around some more then. You never know what we might miss today..."

Leon nodded, then he looked behind him, scanning the cave for the exit.

"Well, I'll already leave to set up camp, if you guys don't mind? I want to get an early start tomorrow and my Seismitoad is really serious about getting food _only_ on the right time, so…See you guys later? If you want to camp with me, that is..."

Both of them nodded. Leon smiled happily, before turning around and waving them over his shoulder.

"Well...text me once you're on your way, will you?"

And with that, he was gone.

.o.O.o.

They didn't find the Roggenrola Cheren was looking for that evening. They found five specimen, but he only managed to catch three and none of them matched the nature he wanted. He was busy internally debating whether he should just settle for one of the four he had caught already – an adamant one, a relaxed one, a hasty one and a quirky one – when, out of nowhere! - Touko pulled hi behind a boulder before hissing:"Did you see that guy, Cheren?!"

At this point, it is probably important to say that Cheren dearly loved Touko. Even after a few years of drifting apart, an inevitable process considering they had gone to different middle schools, he could positively say that she was one of his two best friends.

It didn't mean he could always stand her though. Because, as much as she was a great friend, she was just as stubborn and she held grudges for _years_.

Plus, she could be a bit selfish sometimes.

And today was a day like that.

They had been on their way outside – Cheren had messaged Leon not five minutes earlier – when Touko had frozen and starred at a weirdly dressed figure in the distance, before pulling him behind said boulder.

After realizing what happened and taking a second look at the ominous person, Cheren noticed that they were wearing a Team Plasma uniform.

Well, taking into consideration the detailed accounts of their previous encounter with the team, Cheren now had a good idea of what exactly was going on.

He didn't like it one bit.

"Uh, yes? That's a Team Plasma grunt?"

"Yes, yes, I know, but _what_ is he doing here?!"

Touko spat the words with a venom seldom heard from her and Cheren let out a sigh. God, why did Wobuff have to wander off in this direction? If they hadn't needed to get the Woobat back, they wouldn't be here now. In fact, they'd be outside, probably roasting marshmallows or something. It didn't really matter. As long as Cheren could rest his feet and could escape Touko's sour mood.

"Touko, you do know that Team Plasma is a highly respected Pokémon rights organization, that..."

"Bullshit!", she interrupted him and then ducked back behind the boulder to avoid being seen.

"They are a group of Pokémon _abusers_ that use their ridiculous little organization as a front to do bad things! I bet they're up to no good again!"

Carefully, she glanced around the corner once more, before grabbing Cheren's wrist and dragging him along, clearly intent on following the grunt to wherever he was headed.

"Come on, Cheren! We've got to see what they're going to do!"

And then her eyes widened in recognition and her breath hitched and Cheren sighed, surrendering to his fate.

"That-That's the guys! From the dreamyard!", Touko whisper-shouted, her eyes now narrowing dangerously and Cheren wondered whether he still stood a chance at stopping her from doing whatever ridiculous thing she had planned.

He decided he probably wouldn't be able to do so. Touko's arms were surprisingly strong.

"The one that kicked Bianca's Munna?!"

For a second Touko faltered, her gaze avoiding his, before determination set in her eyes again and she marched on, keeping to the shadows and trying to not get too close.

She'd figure out what he was up to and she'd save the day, _just_ like last time!

"No. Not that one. The other one. But that doesn't matter, because he was _there_ and he _let it happen_ and that's bad enough as it is! Now come on, we've got some Team Plasma butts to beat!"

"Wait, didn't that guy apologi..."

But it was too late. Touko was already following him through the cave and Cheren couldn't leave her all alone. He scrambled to get take out his VisoCaster sending of a quick text to Leon, explaining the situation to him.

What he did forget, however was to check for any answers.

|Stop right there. Mia's Tympole went missing and they probably stole it!

.o.O.o.

Cheren almost got lucky. _Almost_.

They had lost the Plasma guy at some point and while Touko _had_ been fuming, at least she admitted that looking for him now would be pointless. But then they had heard a voice and Touko's head had snapped up and had insisted that it belonged to that Team Plasma guy. Without listening to Cheren's protest, she had dragged him up a small hill, from which they were now peering down from.

As it turned out, Touko had been wrong. The voice didn't belong to the Team Plasma guy, but instead to one of his friends, as there was a small gathering of three grunts taking place beneath them, a gathering Touko was glaring daggers at.

But the grunt they had seen first wasn't part of it.

"And now what?", Cheren hissed, slightly annoyed - Touko _hated_ getting wet but now they were crouching on the floor? - but the brunette didn't hear him. Instead she focused on trying to listen in. Whatever these grunts were up to, it simply _had_ to be terrible. And Touko was going to figure out _what_.

The three grunts were standing close to each other, two of them seemingly arguing. The third one was a bit farther apart – though not by much – and seemed to not really care about what was going on. Absentmindedly, he threw a Pokéball into the air and caught it again, the hint of a smile gracing his features. It was hard to make out what they were discussing, tough the name "Rood" fell more than once and usually made the other grunt shut up for a few moments.

Touko crawled closer, trying to get away from the constant dripping next to her ear. She accidentally stepped into a puddle once and for a second she froze – fearing she may have been spotted. But nothing of the likes happened. They hadn't heard her.

Touko let out a sigh and tried creeping even closer. There had to be something, anything...

And then she got her opening in form of a "ding".

Both, Cheren and Touko ducked into the shadows and starred at his VisoCaster hat had chimed yet again. They stared at it for a second, before Cheren opened the messenger app and read what it said.

|Cheren?

The moment he read the message that came before Cheren knew he had lost. He heard Touko's sharp intake of breath and could _feel_ the flaring in her eyes.

She was not happy with this. Not at all.

"Touko…."

"Cheren, we've _got_ to do something! We need to go, _right now_ , and show just what exactly we do to Pokémon thieves!"

"Touko, don't! It's dangerous and you know it and Arceus knows what could..."

"Who cares, Cheren?! We have to!"

"Not everyone in this world cares as little about consequences as you do, Touko!"

That made Touko pause for a moment. But then, her eyes were reduced to angry slits and she hissed:"Look Cheren, you can either help me or not, I honestly don't care! But _I_ am going to march down there _right_ now and kick those guys' butts just like I did last time!"

And with that, she twirled around again, stomping away and leaving Cheren to slowly trail behind her.

He and his dumb hesitation. That wasn't going to get them anywhere and was unnecessary anyway. She had beat them before, so why shouldn't she be able to beat them again?

.o.O.o.

They didn't stand a chance. Just like Cheren had expected and he internally cursed Touko for roping him into this. If Leon was right and they _had_ stolen Mia's Tympole…

He didn't want to think about it. For once, he decided to not contemplate the consequences.

Touko was a new trainer. It had been pure luck that last time she had encountered a grunt with relatively weak Pokémon. Those grunts however – they were a different story. The first grunt send a Patrat into battle and if Touko had been Cheren, she would have backed off by now. Its fur was already starting to grow some brown-red streaks and according to Leon that was an obvious sign for an impending evolution – but Touko either didn't notice or didn't care. Maybe she was too mad to do so. She may not have been friends with Mia and maybe she had been mostly annoyed by them and, _just maybe_ , she had been really, _really_ , glad when they had finally left. But those grunts had taken her Pokémon and Touko couldn't imagine the pain the girl was in right now.

Her _Pokémon_ had been stole. They had to do something!

And thus, the battle was on.

Touko thought herself clever, waiting for the grunt opposite of her – a woman called Maria from what she had learned - to call for her Pokémon first when Touko had ran towards them, screaming bloody murder and it had even worked! The Patrat may have looked strong and it being a Patrat and knowing Ollie (who was already cowering behind a boulder, farther away), she wouldn't be able to use one of her Pokémon for this battle, but she had just recently caught a Roggenrola and it's stone typing would hold off any serious damage.

But Touko had miscalculated. After all, she had _just_ caught Rockstar and while Rockstar, unlike Emblitz, was willing to obey her, he wasn't taking the fight serious at all. He didn't get all those frantic pictures his trainer was sending out and he didn't care either, because it seemed like whatever these other three humans were doing – it was a prank.

And pranks were fun.

He managed to land some half-hearted hits before being taken out by a well-placed "Crunch" and even though Touko had done her absolute best to make him dodge it – it wasn't enough.

Worried, Cheren glanced at her, fighting next to her one of the other grunts – a man named Arthur – and doing a considerably better job at it – hoping, _wishing_ , for her to see reason. Maria even offered an out, scoffing and asking just _what_ she thought she was doing and if she, maybe, might want to back down.

But Touko didn't want to. In fact, the question itself seemed to infuriate her even more so.

The next Pokémon she called for was Lil.

The last grunt smiled at that, an amused grin adorning her face.

Cheren shivered when he saw it. Shivered, and could only hope that Touko would see reason.

**x**

Furball liked her trainer and there wasn't much she wouldn't do for her. Trainer had given her the life she had always dreamed of - had made her stronger and had believed in her, even if she had messed up.

So when her trainer called on her and sent her into battle, Furball was ready for anything.

And a hard battle it was. The opponent's Patrat may have already been weakened, but it didn't make it any less of a strong opponent. Time and time again it attacked (though it was pretty repetitive and Furball didn't need long to figure out the pattern and to dodge most of them) and she replied with attacks until her muscles cried out with every move she made.

It was exhilarating. Furball relinquished in the feeling. And when her trainer made her dodge aside using Tackle, and the opposing Patrat knocked itself out by pouncing onto a boulder behind where Furball had just stood, she knew it had all been worth it.

She was exhausted but happy and would gladly be recalled now to rest.

But she wasn't recalled. Instead, their opponent called for yet another Pokémon and for a second, Furball thought her trainer would recall her anyway.

But she wasn't. Instead she stared at the well-rested eyes of a Watchog, its maw set in a dangerous snarl and its eyes taking on a hypnotic glow. For a second, Furball couldn't look away. Then she shook her head, stepping back, reminding herself to snap out of it. This was a Watchog. Its most dangerous weapons were its eyes. Don't look at them and you'll be safe.

But then Furball felt her muscles again and she knew this was not a fight she could win. Either her team did or...or...

When Furball looked at this next opponent another time, she knew. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she could feel it, this pulsating thought that had haunted her since a few days now.

She was ready. She was finally ready. Her trainer needed her and she _knew_ she was strong enough and, most importantly, she _knew_ she wanted this.

It was time. Now all she had to do was draw upon the power she felt was there and let herself fall.

And when white light engulfed her, Lil wondered just how much she'd change? Would she be a completely new Furball coming out of it? Or would she still be the same?

Oh Arceus, she couldn't wait to find out!

**x**

When the white light engulfed Lil, everybody, even the opponent's Watchog, took a step back, the sounds of the cave dimming in the background as stones floated upwards, pulled by powers no one really understood.

An evolution was always special. The energy set free by one took away everyone's breath, daring them to speak up, leaving them to watch in awe as something life-changing, and almost magical, took place.

It was the same for Touko.

At first.

She stared at Lil – at Her? - feeling the power surrounding her, a smile threatening to split her face. Lil was evolving! And then..!

Lil was evolving.

Touko's smile froze.

Lil was evolving. And she wasn't supposed to. Not yet, anyway! Not yet! She-She hadn't _allowed_ her to evolve! She hadn't...Lil had _never_ asked! This was too early! She...She had to stop this! Had to snap Lil out of it! She wasn't ready yet, _she_ wasn't ready yet and Lil had to snap out of it! She-She had to!

And without hesitation, without really realizing what she was doing, Touko shouted:"NO!" across the battlefield, loud enough to cause an echo.

Immediately, everyone's head snapped around, starring at her, her hands balled to fists and horror written on her face. And not a moment later the white light was snapped out and Lil was back, looking at her, startled.

And dare she say disappointed?

**x**

Lil had never known what an evolution felt like. Of course not – she had never evolved after all. But even though countless other Pokémon had told tales of their evolution, tales she and her siblings had listened to time and time again, she had never fully grasped what it would be like. And now that she did it, she was terrified, yet elevated.

Almost as if she were going into a battle.

She could feel her body growing longer, felt her hair growing thicker and somehow knew that from now on she wouldn't have trouble carrying both, Emblitz _and_ Ollie on her back. She felt her paws lift of the ground as the powerful forces _lifted her into the air_ and for a second she was reminded of how Blind Eye had changed after coming out of his evolution and she hoped she wouldn't change, because she _really_ liked being Furball, being "Lil", but at the same time she knew that trainer would be proud and that her evolution would sway this battle in their favor.

And then she heard the voice.

"NO!"

It was trainer's voice. It sounded desperate, _so desperate_ , and Lil jumped, wanting to protect her, wanting to do her best and the moment she moved, her paws hit the ground again and all those changes she thought she had felt were gone and the white light stopped blinding her vision.

But when she turned around, ready to attack whoever was threatening trainer, all she saw was a girl standing there, hands balled to fists and fiery determination in her eyes.

(Though it morphed into terror not a second later.)

And Lil understood. Understood and couldn't help but feel betrayed.

**x**

Silence engulfed the battle field. Everyone stared at Lil, who had reverted back, still being the Lillipup everybody knew and loved.

And Lil...Lil stared at her trainer, in wonder, confusion – and disappointment. Her ears were drooping and she cowered on the floor, not being able to truly meet Touko's eyes.

And neither could Touko.

She felt terrible. But-But she had panicked and-and Lil wasn't even ready yet anyway! She wasn't ready yet!

Maria was of different opinion.

"You...You...How could you?!", she hissed, stepping closer and automatically, Touko backed away, her eyes fluttering to Lil from time to time, until she couldn't take the Lillipup's broken expression anymore. Silently, she recalled the Pokémon, her eyes not daring to meet anyone else's.

Arceus, what had she done?!

Emblitz scowled at her, though his eyes were trained on the trainers in front of them and Ollie was clinging to her leg – but even she looked at her trainer in confusion.

Why would she stop Furball from evolving? Wasn't...wasn't evolving something good?

"I-I-I don't know!", Touko stuttered, her eyes trained on the ball in her hand. She...She shouldn't have done it, should she? She-She…

No one moved. No one said anything. But then, the expression on Maria's face morphed from anger to pity and she stared at Ollie and Emblitz and Wobuff.

Cheren shuddered, his eyes growing wide when he realized what was going on.

His breath almost left him.

"Touko", he hissed, watching the Team Plasma grunt. Watched her grab a Pokéball, one that didn't look inhabited.

"Touko, recall your Pokémon. _Now_."

But Touko didn't. It was only when the ball was thrown – in a practiced arch across the make-shift battlefield - and Cheren hysterically shouted:"TOUKO, _NOW!_ " that she sprung into action.

At once, her eyes grew wider and she started panicking. She made a grab for the two Pokéballs watching in horror as the other Pokéball came closer and closer as if time was almost coming to a standstill.

"Return! Emblitz! Ollie!"

The red light engulfed them, taking them to safety and leaving nothing of their presence behind. Not a second later the ball that had been thrown had landed at the spot where Emblitz had stood.

Touko gasped, her face drained from all color. They-They had…

Touko didn't get to finish her thought, didn't get to realize _what it meant_.

She had forgotten about Wobuff. And Wobuff had always been of curious nature.

The moment the white light engulfed the Woobat, Touko heard nothing but white noise. She didn't register the quickly fading steps of the Team Plasma members once the Woobat had been caught and they decided to run, she didn't feel Cheren, who was shaking her arm, desperately trying to get her to respond. She was frozen to her place and it was only when her cheek started stinging (had-had Cheren _slapped_ her?) that she showed any signs of life.

Slowly, her head snapped up, looking at the now empty space in front of her, clutching the ball in her hand. Slowly, she reached for the others, counting them, feeling the warmth of them. Surely, once she reached Wobuff's Pokéball, it would be just as warm and calming and _lived in_.

It wasn't.

She looked at it. Held it up. Called for the Woobat.

Nothing.

"...o..ko..?"

This-This couldn't be. They...no. No way. This was Unova, not-not Kanto! There was no evil Team Rocket that took your Pokémon! This...This…

"Tou...n...yo…ear me?!"

Someone was shaking her arm, Touko could feel it. She turned her head again, looking at Cheren, disbelieve written in her eyes.

She didn't really see him. Her vision was blurred. The white noise kept her from thinking straight.

"They-They took her...They...She's gone. Gone!"

She was shaking now. She knew she was.

At least the white noise got less.

"Don't...rry. Just...ait on...eon."

Touko shook her head. Then she took a step forwards. And another.

"Touko. D...n't. _Don't_."

Touko didn't pay Cheren any attention and when he grabbed her arm, she shrugged him off, almost _hissing_ at the contact.

They were gone. They had taken her Woobat. She clenched her fists and live came back to her. They...they took her. She had to do something. She...She had to!

"Touko! Touko! WAIT! Wait for Leon!"

But Touko didn't listen, panic gripping her heart. Frantically she ran after the men, her legs carrying her faster than ever before, hoping that they'd be able to catch up.

And eventually, they did.

"She's not yours!", she screamed at them, once she was close enough.

"She's not yours! GIVE HER BACK!"

The three grunts stopped in their tracks. Touko let herself have a moment of reprieve, putting her hands on her knees, breathing shallowly. Her gasps tuned out everything else and for a second, it almost felt as if she wasn't getting any air at all.

"She...She's mine! Mine! Gi-Give her back!"

The last grunt, that hadn't battled either of them, smirked and when Touko caught her eye, she shivered. But she didn't get to look at her for long.

"It's a free Pokémon!", Maria hissed, shaking her head as she glared daggers at Touko. The girl could see the Pokéball Wobuff was in and it made her fingers twitch in anger. How-How could they!

"Ollie", she hissed and grabbed for the first Pokéball she had ever possessed. It pulsed with live, thought it felt somewhat cool. The moment her fingers closed in on it, she threw it forward, freeing the Pokémon inside who shot forward with a cry.

The Team Plasma grunts chuckled in amusement and Arthur shook his head.

"Seems like you have yet to learn your lesson, _trainer_. I wonder how easy it will be to free your Pokémon once we've defeated you..."

"Pah! As if! I already beat half your team and once Cheren shows up, I will..."

"Golurk, do your thing."

Touko didn't get to finish her sentence. Instead of listening, the third grunt had stepped forward, eyes coldly calculating. The Pokémon that materialized behind her screamed, making the cave walls shake. It towered above the group, it's gaze trained on Touko, who stubbornly raised her chin.

Ollie didn't though. The moment the Oshawott saw the Golurk it shrieked and ran, seeking shelter behind her trainers legs.

But Touko wasn't going to let it go that easily. It may be a Golurk. It may be strong and powerful, but she wouldn't let that get between her and her Woobat. She wasn't going to let them just steal her…

"Ollie", she murmured, moving to stand besides the shivering Oshawott,"It's time for you to show those _dirtbags_ how to properly battle!"

"It will be a pleasure to free those Pokémon from you, girl. They deserve a trainer that cares about them more deeply than you ever could."

"Ollie, use…!

"Gigant, bo..."

"RECALL YOUR OSHAWOTT, TOUKO. DO IT _NOW_!"

.o.O.o.

When Leon didn't get an answer to his text, he panicked. Mia's parents had called him earlier, telling him about a crying Mia who wasn't able to form full sentences. All she had to show them was an empty Pokéball and a vague description of what had happened.

Leon didn't need long to understand just what had happened.

At first he was confused. Team Plasma was well known and people didn't view them as evil – in fact, they were seen as a highly respected organization. They had vanished from the limelight for some time, but now they had resurfaced, not even two months ago, and people were once again listening to them. They may be a bit intense sometimes and, _of course_ , there were rumors, but there were always rumors.

But when he finally got Cheren's text, he felt cold shivers running down his back and he knew that something was wrong.

And then he saw Touko and Ollie and almost lost his mind, because _what was she doing, that was a_ Golurk _and she was sending her_ Oshawott _into battle!_

But then he arrived at her side and she stared at him wide-eyed and he knew he had to keep a level-head. He didn't know how strong his opponent was. The other two grunts shouldn't be too much of a problem – apparently Cheren and Touko had been able to fight back against them - but the last one practically screamed danger.

"Touko, I _told you to recall your Pokémon._ Do it! This is not your fight!", he hissed, but she still hesitated.

"But-but they took..."

"It is _not_ your fight! Your Oshawott is scared, so _recall it_!"

Unwillingly, Touko finally gave in and recalled the still shaking Oshawott and Leon turned away from her, scrutinizing his opponents.

"You took Mia's Tympole", he stated, making his voice sound flat. The fire in his eyes should warning enough.

The Team Plasma grunt simply shrugged and it infuriated him even more.

"So what? We saw her, made "her Tympole" cry. She didn't deserve it anyway."

"That wasn't for you to decide", Leon hissed, before pointing at them. Immediately, his Swoobat rushed forward, protectively flapping its wing in front of them. Then he looked up at the Golurk and re-considered. A Ground/Ghost type against his Flying/Psychic type wasn't a bet he should made.

He felt for another Pokéball in his pockets and decided to settle for his Seismitoad.

He didn't know how strong they were, so better safe than sorry and while that Golurk may not know any ghost-typed moves, he wasn't going to risk it. He wasn't going to blow his chances. After all, he _stood_ a chance. He had eight badges, had almost beaten Marshall once. He could defeat this guy.

He just had to concentrate.

"It _was_ for us to decide. We protect Pokémon from abuse and that girl was _abusing it_. You weren't there – so I'll excuse your ignorance. However, looking at you...I doubt you're all that innocent yourself...", the grunt explained and with the flick of her hand, her Golurk stepped forward, it's steps booming, making Touko flinched back.

The other two grunts got ready too and although Touko knew Leon had told her to stay out of it, she couldn't help but grab Emblitz's Pokéball, just in case.

"You'd battle me three on one?", Leon bit out, letting his gaze drift to his trouser pockets.

He could call for another Pokémon – double and even triple battles were a thing, after all. Heck, he had once met a guy in Driftveil City specialized on triple battles. But those needed training. Taking charge of more than one Pokémon could be taxing and he didn't know whether splitting his concentration would do him any good in this battle.

The other two grunts called for their Pokémon – the Watchog and a Venipede – and the moment they touched the ground, Emblitz was called for too.

And then, out of nowhere, they were joined by a Liepard.

.o.O.o.

The battle was fierce. Fighting two on three always was. Touko had done her best to take out Maria, but Emblitz had been unwilling and at some point Leon had hissed at her and ordered her to recall her Pokémon. She hadn't done it, but she had kept out of the battle and had to helplessly watch Leon take one the other grunts.

Assisted by none other than the grunt Cheren and Touko had been following in the first place.

When the Liepard had materialized out of nowhere, the tension had not been dissolved, but it had been halted long enough for the grunt – Kim, apparently - to join their side, glaring daggers at Maria, Arthur and the other one.

What followed next, left Touko utterly confused. Kim and the third one – Anastacia – had hissed at each other, throwing back and forth barely discernible threats until Anastacia had seemingly grown tired of it and had simply attacked.

And Kim had responded.

While Leon had eventually taken offer battling Anastacia, Kim had fended off the other two grunts and ultimately, even Anastacia's Golurk was defeated, finally letting Touko breathe freely again.

She had never seen a battle this intense.

And then it was over and eventually, Maria handed over the stolen Pokémon (after Leon threatened her, that was), throwing the two Pokéballs as far away as possible, before letting Anastacia's Elgyem teleport them to safety.

And then Touko finally had her Woobat back. She had snatched the ball from Kim's hand, glaring at him, and refused to let go of it anymore.

Silence engulfed the cave, once the three grunts had teleported away, leaving the trainers to stare at where Maria, Arthur and Anastacia had stood mere moments before, each of them lost in thought. Touko was clutching Wobuff's Pokéball, as if unable to believe that she was truly back, Cheren worriedly watched his friend, Leon was busy ensuring that Timmy's Pokéball was secured safely and Kim...Kim stood there, staring after the other three, biting his lip, anger and disappointment raging in his eyes.

It was Leon, who broke the silence.

"Hey, thanks man. For helping us out, I mean."

He gave Kim a bright smile and the grunt backed away, though he smiled back. Cheren stepped forward, opening his mouth, but was silenced the moment Kim spoke up.

"I helped you guys because this is not what Team Plasma stand for."

"Huh?"

The grunt looked at Cheren, a small smile playing around his lips, some tension leaving his shoulders.

"You were going to ask my why I helped you out. It's because Team Plasma aren't a bunch of petty thieves. Stealing that Tympole wasn't a mission given to anyone."

Then, Kim's expression faltered and he looked more stern, more tense than even before.

"The girl might not have deserved that Tympole, but stealing it was."

Cheren half-expected Touko to surge forward at that statement, demanding an answer as to what he meant, but nothing came. She didn't even _scoff_. Worried, he half-turned to look at her and almost gasped. Touko's face still hadn't gained any color and the blood that had rushed to her face earlier was gone by now. She looked terrible and her eyes were still transfixed on the Pokéball she was clutching in her hands.

Cheren wondered, whether a Pokémon could feel how strongly someone was holding on to it. Could they? Did they feel reassured?

Whatever. It didn't matter anyway.

"You...think she deserved it?"

Leon frowned when he asked, starring at the grunt, his hands sliding into his trouser pockets, undoubtedly readying himself for yet another fight.

But the grunt made no move to attack them, instead he stared (glared?) at Touko and shook his head.

She still didn't react.

"She hurt the Tympole. Of course I don't think she should have her own Pokémon."

"Come one, man. She's seven, for crying out loud!", Leon responded heatedly. Mia was his cousin and family and he loved her with all his heart. He knew how much Timmy meant to her.

"She hurt her Pokémon. That is inexcusable."

"Don't tell me you didn't make any mistakes when you first started out!"

"I did. Of course I did. And it's why I shouldn't have been allowed to own my own Pokémon. If you can't take full responsibility of them, you shouldn't be in charge of them."

They fell silent once more. Cheren crossed his arms in front of his chest, Leon stared off into the distance and Touko still wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her.

Leon scoffed. Stepped back. Glanced at his Seismitoad and a smile took over again.

"Well, whatever. Thanks for helping out, I really appreciated it..."

Leon chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his neck, before nodding to his Swoobat, still loyally by his side.

"My name's Leon by the way. He's called Cheren and that..."

"I know who she is", the grunt interrupted them and stared at Touko again. She looked up, just this once and then grimaced.

Leon ignored their tense interaction. He wasn't going to let this argument ruin the moment.

"Wanna come with us, on our way out? Not sure whether you have to make camp today and..."

But, apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Kim's expression changed from tensely content to one of horror and then disgust.

"I have no intentions of traveling with _you_ ", he spat, before turning away. Touko's eyes flared up at that, but she still couldn't find the words to respond.

"You are _trainers_. I may have helped you out this once, but we are _not_ friends. You're just a bunch of people to blind to see the other side and _accept_ things."

Again, Kim stared at Touko, but this time she didn't even notice. Leon frowned.

"Hey, mate, no hard feelings, but you're a trainer too. There's no difference here whatsoever..."

"Yes, there is!", the grunt snapped, stepping away even farther from the group as if trying to put a wall between them.

" _You_ are forcing you're Pokémon to do your very bidding completely oblivious to their feelings, wants and needs..."

At that, he glared at Touko, _again_ , scowling when he noticed Emblitz, now almost hugging Touko's legs. It hadn't escaped him how unwilling the Pansear had been during the battle and he couldn't believe that a human could be so selfish. She had probably bought the poor Pokémon too. Getting ripped away from their home was bad enough, but then getting shuffled around like an object made things even worse for them.

It was disgusting, really. It was why Team Plasma existed. Because of little brats like her.

She hadn't even tried to accept his apology and clearly, they had simply been out to catch a Muna for themselves.

"...meanwhile, _my_ team is made up solely by Pokémon chosen by our _King_ himself. _None_ of them were forced. _All_ of them _chose_ this fate for themselves. _That's_ the difference. _That's_ what make me better than _you_!"

He basically spat the "you" at them, before stepping even further away, as if disgusted by their mere presence.

Meanwhile, Leon and Cheren exchanged confused glances. "King"? Team Plasma had a king? That was...unsettling? According to the news they had a leader and a council of similarly powerful members, but not once had they mentioned a "king". But...earlier, they had talked about "their Lord" too, so...it seemed to be an actual thing?

"Anyway..."

Kim cleared his throat, not looking at them directly and if Cheren had caught his expression correctly, he might even look remorseful.

"I have to go. I have duties to attend and, well...Goodbye?"

He looked up and smiled awkwardly and then the tension finally broke – if just for a moment - and Leon simply laughed.

"Yeah dude, goodbye. Thanks for helping again! That Golurk was a sight to behold and I don't think I could have won without you!"

Leon laughed again and waved, a gesture tentatively mirrored by the grunt, who then took off, calling for his own Elgyem and teleporting away.

Leon shook his head, before turning to Cheren, his smile freezing on his lips. Cheren was still starring at Touko, worriedly playing with the rim of his glasses. He couldn't help it. Touko's face just looked so...blank?

Touko's face never looked blank. It was an expression he often adopted, but not her. She always wore her feelings on her sleeve.

In a way, she was doing it again.

The moment Cheren stepped closer to her, Touko yanked her head up, starring at him with eyes too big and her breathing speeding up unnaturally and she stepped in front of Emblitz, shielding him from his sight, biting her lip and narrowing her eyes.

A second later and she relaxed again, dropping her gaze, the hint of a blush forming on her cheeks.

The color stood out painfully against her too white face.

"Oh, uhm, sorry. I-I got startled...I should probably recall him...", she murmured, fishing for the right Pokéball.

She didn't look at Cheren and the sound of the Pansear being recalled was the only thing piercing the silence that had settled around them. Usually, there would always be the chatter of Touko's team to break any awkward silences – a bunch of Pokémon hissing at each other, chattering or simply stepping into puddles.

Now that it was gone, Cheren almost missed the sound.

"Rockstar, _no_!"

Touko's voice broke through the silence and Cheren shuddered at the sharp edge in it. He wasn't used to hear it from her, not when it came to Pokémon. And seemingly neither was Rockstar. The Roggenrola looked at her in surprise, unsure what to do next.

"You have to stay in your Pokéball, understood?", she murmured, her voice shaking. "You...You just have to, alright? It's important."

Without another word, Touko recalled the Roggenrola, before turning to Cheren and Leon once more.

"Lets go", she said, her voice sounding hollow.

And Cheren's "I told you so" died on his lips.

.o.O.o.

"My Lord?"

"Yes, father?"

N perked up when Ghetsis approached him. It was a rare occurrence for his father to visit him this often and N found it strangely pleasing he found himself at the sage's center of attention so often.

"I have come to discuss your acquaintance with that trainer, my Lord."

N frowned. Hadn't they already done that..?

"And I come bearing...bad news. May I speak freely, my Lord?"

N nodded, unsure what his father was getting at. Had he forgotten about something? But no...He hadn't even messaged her that much lately. Yesterday night she had seemed strangel closed off and N hadn't dared to pry.

Were battle buddies allowed to pry? He didn't know.

"Of course, father. What happened?"

A benevolent smile graced the sage's lips and N didn't like it one bit. He didn't want his father to think that bringing bad news related to his battle buddy was something good. But he let it slip, because such feelings were petty and time wasting.

"Yesterday, a troop of our men were attacked by her and tow...associate. They had just recently freed a Tympole from the clutches of an abusive trainer. She demanded they return the tortured Pokémon and upon refusal, she attacked. As I was informed, this was not the first incident in which she has actively fought against Team Plasma. One of our men got attacked by her a few days prior, during a mission in the Dreamyard – a mission _you yourself_ ordered him on, I have to add..."

Ghetsis let his voice trail off and looked at Natural expectantly. He expected his son to be horrified, but the expression on Natural's face was far from it.

He looked _proud_. His son had the audacity to look _proud_.

"I am well aware of the first accident, father. She told me herself. According to her, one of the grunts mishandled a Muna and she stepped in to save it. While I am sure our grunts would never do that, I doubt that she would lie to me. I assume it is a simple misunderstanding. However, it just shows how much she cares! She may be a trainer, but her attempt to help a wild Pokémon is honourable and shows, even though she has been blinded by the system she is growing up in, that she still deeply cares about Pokémon! That is why I firmly believe that she would make a great addition to our team! And, I am sure that this incident, too, is a simple misunderstanding. Who knows what kind of rumours she has heard and..."

N almost stuttered, but caught himself. A king did not stutter.

"...her opinion of Team Plasma...is not the... _best_."

N didn't look at this father when he admitted that much, knowing that he'd wince the moment he looked into the sage's eyes. So, instead he opted for quickly adding a reassuring "However I am sure I will be able to change this, with time." to assure his father that nothing was wrong. He'd show Touko the wrongness of her ways and then, instead of being battle buddies, they could be friends instead!

The plan was foolproof.

When N glanced at his father, it almost looked like he was bristling with anger. When the sage inhaled, undoubtedly to bring forth another argument, he almost let out a sigh. There was nothing his father could say to change his opinion. He was honoured that his father worried so much, but befriending, and changing, Touko was for the best. She'd make a great addit...

"She stopped a Lillipup's evolution. On purpose."

N froze immediately.

There was nothing worse than stopping a Pokémon from evolving.

Evolution to a Pokémon meant so much more than it did to humans. To humans it meant gaining strength. Maybe a new type for their team. Maybe a new, cooler look.

But it was so much more than that.

It meant growing up. It meant being an adult. It meant growing as yourself and it meant that a Pokémon was _ready_. N knew countless Pokémon that had refused to evolve, because they hadn't felt ready. He knew Pokémon that felt like they weren't strong enough, others that just didn't _feel like it_ – like Zorua for example. In fact, N had once known a Frillish who had never wanted to evolve simply because it didn't like the way it would end up looking.

A Pokémon evolved when it was ready and forcing one to do so, by using extra items or the likes, was unnatural and N hated it.

But stopping a Pokémon from evolving was arguably even worse. Just like if you chose to evolve a Pokémon prematurely, it took away their choice. It took away something that was inherently _theirs_ and made it their trainers. Humans had no right to do so – they didn't undergo the changes a Pokémon went through. They weren't the ones that were torn for days, months, years on end whether they should or shouldn't let that feeling inside of them take over.

Stopping a Pokémon's evolution meant you told them they weren't ready – even if they did (and a Pokémon _did_ feel ready when it evolved – otherwise they wouldn't let themselves go over the edge). It made them feel disappointed in themselves, made them think they weren't _worthy –_ they weren't good enough yet.

And N just couldn't believe that Touko would ever, _ever_!, do something like that.

"Father, are you sure..."

"I know what I have seen, Natural."

N froze again. His thoughts were racing. She-she wouldn't? Right?

She-Touko...She had seemed so _nice_. But then again...The first time he had met her she had forgotten about Soft Wave. And then, the second time, she hadn't took her Pokémon and instead had kept them confined to their balls and she had been willing to battle him, without hesitation, without even _wondering_ whether her team wanted to or not and he _knew_ about Roasted Chestnut and all the tell-tale signs she should have seen, that the Pansear did not want to be part of her team…

But Soft Wave had liked her! And she had been worried! And she had sprung into action just to defend a Pokémon she didn't even _know,_ against better judgment, going up against someone who could have been dangerous!

Ghetsis watched his son. Knew of the battle that was going on inside his head.

And now, for the final push...

"Remember what I told you, my Lord. This world is deceitful and manipulative. Do not let their pretty little lies distract you from the truth. You are the one hero. We count on your ability to see through it all. To have a vision, untainted by the worlds pretty pictures. Please. Do not disappoint us. We _need_ you."

With that, Ghetsis left, a small, unseen smile gracing his lips.

N sat in silence, his thoughts a battlefield.

His VisoCaster dinged. Shaking, N stretched out his hand to grab it.

|Are you still on for that battle tomorrow?

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No foreshadowing whatsoever has taken place in this chapter. Any such claims are dirty lies spread by heretics that shouldn't be trusted.
> 
> This has been a public service announcement.
> 
> Fun fact: I have no idea why I decided to give Touko a Woobat. But it was in my notes and I didn't want to change it, so now, in this fic's canon, Touko doesn't know either but is to stubborn to change it now.
> 
> I think that's quite fitting for her as a character, too.
> 
> Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless ^^ 
> 
> Good morning/day/eening to all of you and read you next time ^^
> 
> (PS: I know Elgyem can only learn teleport starting from gen eight – usually I use the gen five movesets, but I allowed myself this small change to fit the grunt's team.)

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hello there and thank you for reading the first chapter. I hope you liked it ^^  
> This story focuses on Ferriswheelshipping (I just can't get over them =[ ) and while I wanted this story to be all about it, I ended up heavily focusing on Touko's journey (as well as N's). From the notes I've gathered so far, this story takes things rather slow (as off now we're at chapter 10 and Touko has only just left Striaton City). I like to take my time with things and wanted to warn everyone starting to read this. Generally speaking, the story will roughly follow the game's story (with some edits/changes from my side) up to the end, which is when the changes start to come in. This covers the journey and the drama after the big battle, or that's what I have planned for it so far.
> 
> I hope I get to finish this Fanfiction and I hope that you'll join me on the journey of getting there, enjoying it just as I will do writing this.
> 
> Any form of feedback in the reviews (I'm not a native speaker, so getting feedback on spelling/grammar would be highly appreciated) would be nice, as it helps me to see where I can improve.
> 
> Read you next time and have a great day! ^^  
> Bluestpaw


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